As a premier authority in the billing and payments industry, ACI prides itself on keeping a pulse on the evolving needs of consumers, as well as the trends impacting the industry.
This interactive tool is designed to let you quickly view the billing and payment preferences of thousands of consumers over several years.
TREND HIGHLIGHTS:
Billing and Payment Trends
and Behaviors
Click here to download the 2026 Annual Pulse Report.
TREND HIGHLIGHTS:
Higher education payments in 2026:
How students and parents want to pay
Click here to download the latest data snapshot for Higher Education and Student Loan Payments.
TREND HIGHLIGHTS:
ACI Speedpay Biller Impact Study:
A new era in bill pay has arrived
Click here to discover the strategies and innovations shaping the next era of bill payment
While exploring this site, you can interact with statistics and charts to see how the data changes based on your specific interests. Be sure to click on our Data Guide for more information and navigational assistance.
Monthly Billing 101
To begin, let’s explore the number of bills paid per month, as well as the bills consumers perceive as most important.
Total number of monthly bills per person
Question: How many bills have you personally paid on a monthly basis over the past 12 months?
Share of total bills per industry
Question: Please select all of the bills for which you personally have submitted monthly payments over the past 12 months.*
*Subscriptions and Higher Education began to be measured in 2020.
Top 10 most important bills
Question: If you could only pay one of these bills next month, which would you choose to pay?
Payment Channels
Next we’ll examine trends in payment “channels,” or the different ways a payment can be delivered or received.
Total number of channels used per person
Question: How many payment channels do you typically use to pay your monthly bills?
(Biller’s Website, Biller’s Mobile App, Phone via CSR, Phone via IVR, Mobile Wallet, Mail, In Person at the Biller’s Office / Location, Bank’s Website, Bank’s Mobile App, In Person at a Bank Branch, Third-Party Website, In Person at a Third-Party Payment Provider, Virtual Voice Assistant, Text Message)
Percentage of consumers who use each channel
Question: Within the last 12 months, which of the following payment channels have you used to pay for each of your monthly bills?*
*Virtual Voice Assistant began to be measured in 1H 2020, while Text Message began to be measured in 2H 2020.
Preferred channel for one-time bill payments
Question: What is your preferred channel for making one-time bill payments?*
*Virtual Voice Assistant began to be measured in 1H 2020, while Text Message began to be measured in 2H 2020.
**Subscriptions and Higher Education began to be measured in 2020.
Preferred channel group for one-time bill payments
Question: What is your preferred channel for making one-time bill payments?*
*Prior to 2020, “Mobile/Smart Devices” was referred to as “Mobile Payments” because Virtual Voice Assistant only began to be measured in 1H 2020.
**Subscriptions and Higher Education began to be measured in 2020.
Preferred channel for setting up recurring bill payments
Question: What is/would be your preferred channel for setting up recurring bill payments?
Payment Methods
Now, we’ll take a look at trends in payment “methods,” or the forms of money or currency that can be used to pay bills.
Total number of methods used per person
Question: How many payment methods do you typically use to pay your monthly bills?
(Credit Card, Debit Card, Checking Account Deduction, Traditional Paper Check, Cash, Savings Account Deduction, Payroll Deduction, Money Order, Prepaid Card)
Percentage of consumers who use each method
Question: Within the last 12 months, which of the following payment methods have you used to pay for each of your monthly bills?
Preferred method for one-time bill payment
Question: What is your preferred method for making one-time bill payments?
Preferred method for one-time bill payment
*Subscriptions and Higher Education began to be measured in 2020.
Preferred method for recurring bill payment
Question: What is your preferred method for making recurring bill payments?
*Subscriptions and Higher Education began to be measured in 2020.
Billing Statements and Notifications
Let’s explore trends in how consumers prefer to receive their billing statements and notifications when a bill is due.
Preferred billing statement method
Question: How do you prefer to receive your billing statements?
*Subscriptions and Higher Education began to be measured in 2020.
Preferred billing notification method
Question: In general, which of the following do you prefer most when it comes to receiving your bill notifications/reminders?
*Subscriptions and Higher Education began to be measured in 2020.
Last-Minute Payment Trends
Let’s now look at trends in how consumers prefer to make urgent payments when necessary.
Reasons for late bill payment
Question: When you pay a bill late, which of the following best represents the most frequent reason?
Last-minute payments made over past 12 months
Question: Over the past 12 months, have you had to make an “urgent” or same-day payment?
Preferred channel used for last-minute payments
Question: Assume you had to make an “urgent” or same-day payment tomorrow. Which channel would you prefer to use?*
*Virtual Voice Assistant began to be measured in 1H 2020, while Text Message began to be measured in 2H 2020.
Preferred method used for last-minute payments
Question: Assume you had to make an “urgent” or same-day payment tomorrow. Which method would you prefer to use?
Mobile Wallet Trends
Now we’ll explore trends related to the rise in popularity of mobile wallets for bill payment.
Use of mobile wallet payment methods
Question: Do you currently use mobile wallet payment methods to make any sort of payment?
Learn more about how the ACI moBills solution helps meet the needs of today’s mobile-savvy consumers, who seek to pay their bills quickly and conveniently.
Question: How frequently do you use mobile wallet payment methods to make a payment?
Ever paid a bill through a mobile wallet
Question: Have you ever paid a bill through a mobile wallet?
(When we say “a bill,” we are referring to your monthly bills that we have previously asked about.)
Would consider paying a bill through a mobile wallet
Question: Whether or not you currently use a mobile wallet to pay bills, would you consider doing so in the future?
Security
Take a look at the latest trends in payment security.
Confidence financial data is secure when making payments
Question: How confident are you that your financial data is secure when making bill payments?
Belief that mobile wallet payments are secure
Question: Do you believe that mobile wallet payments are secure?
Belief data is more secure than it was 5 years ago
Question: Do you believe your data is more secure than it was 5 years ago?
Password recollection for digital bill payment
Question: How do you remember your passwords for the online portals or mobile apps where you pay your bills digitally?
Frequency of changing passwords where digital bills are paid
Question: How often do you change the passwords for the online portals or mobile apps where you pay your bills digitally?
Compromised information in a cyberattack
Question: If you were to experience a cyberattack, which of the following types of information would you be most concerned about compromising?
Consumer Bill Pay Experience
Take a look at some of the latest trends in how consumers perceive their bill pay experience.
Perception that bill pay experience is complicated
Question: Do you think the bill payments experience is complicated?
Feelings about bill pay experience
Question: How often do the following statements describe how you feel about your bills and bill payment experience?
Outbound Payments to Consumers Trends
Take a look at trends in disbursements, or the money consumers are receiving from their billers and other companies where they’ve purchased products or services.
Payments from other companies
Question: Not including income tax refunds or stimulus payments from the government, have you received any payments from companies you have purchased products or services from? This can include refunds or rebates of any kind.
Types of payments received
Question: Please select all of the payments that you have received.
Most recent payments received
Question: How did you receive your payment? If you received multiple payments, please think of the most recent payment.
Issues with receiving payments
Question: Did you experience any issues in receiving your money?
Types of issues with receiving payments
Question: Please select any kind of issue(s) that you experienced.
Choices in payment methods
Question: Did the company that paid you give you a choice in payment method?
Preferences for receiving payments
Question: If you were provided a choice, how would you prefer to receive a payment?
Subscription Services
To conclude, let’s review consumers’ spending habits surrounding subscription services.
Total number of subscription services per person
Question: How many subscription services do you currently pay for?
Sharing services with others
Question: Do you currently share any of your subscription services with other people?
Splitting the cost of services
Question: Do you ever split the cost of your subscription service with those people with whom you share?
The ACI Speedpay Pulse is a longitudinal consumer billing and payment trends research study conducted by Brownstein Group in partnership with ACI Worldwide.
Each ACI Speedpay Pulse data set includes responses from a survey of at least 3,000 unique respondents (no repeat participation within a one-year period). Each survey sample is U.S. Census-balanced among adults age 18 and older who are responsible for submitting payments for at least two of their household’s monthly bills. Survey margin of error is less than 1.8 percent for questions answered by the entire sample. Questions with a smaller base will have a higher margin of error. If presented, stat testing is at the 95 percent confidence level.
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You can utilize the filter options available in each chart to view the consumer survey data in a variety of ways. Many charts will provide side-by-side comparison tools so that you can compare one set of data on the left with another set of data on the right. While the filters may vary by chart depending on the data available, here are the different filters you may be able to apply:
Age Group: View the data specific to four key generations of respondents aged between 18 and 80. The data accounts for the specific age ranges of each generation as they vary across each Time Period.
Gen Z – Respondents aged 18-26 in 2023 (dating back to consumers aged 18-21 in 2018). This age range only reflects a partial segment of Gen Z-aged consumers.
Millennials – Respondents aged 27-42 in 2023 (dating back to 22-37 in 2018).
Gen X – Respondents aged 43-58 in 2023 (dating back to 38-53 in 2018).
Boomers + - Respondents aged 59+ in 2023 (dating back to 54-80 in 2018). This age range reflects the full Baby Boomer generation and a smaller portion of the Silent Generation.
Time Period: View the data specific to different timeframes when the data is available.
1H = first half of the year
2H = second half of the year
Industry: View data on consumers who have indicated they pay at least one bill relevant to the industry selected. For example, if you select "Utilities," you will see data related to consumers that have paid a bill in this category for the selected time period.