60% of consumers in Asia Pacific paid bills online last year:Visa

97% of those said they would continue to pay bills online over the next six months.

According to the 2010 Visa eCommerce Consumer Monitor, internet users in six emerging eCommerce markets in Asia Pacific are going online to pay their bills, choosing the convenience and flexibility of paying electronically over cash or checks.

Of the 3,156 respondents surveyed from mainland China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand in the third quarter of last year, 60 percent said they paid their bills online in the last 12 months and almost all of these respondents (97 percent) said they would continue to do so over the next six months. Of those who had not tried paying online before, 44 percent said they would consider doing so over the next six months.

When asked how they paid their bills either on or offline, 27 percent of respondents said bank websites were their principal channel for bill payments, 20 percent said they primarily used an ATM, while 10 percent said they paid online directly to merchant or supplier websites. Convenience stores, bank branches, online bill payment websites, and the post office each had less than 10 percent of respondents citing these options as their main bill payment channel.

“Paying bills online is becoming popular with consumers in these six emerging eCommerce markets and this trend is set to grow as more people become comfortable with transacting electronically,” said Paul Jung, Head of Visa’s eCommerce business across Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa.

According to industry estimates, households in markets such as China, India and Indonesia currently pay between two and four bills per month, with this number potentially increasing as these markets develop.

“With our busy lifestyles, keeping track of whether you have paid all of your bills can be challenging. Linking recurring bill payments to a Visa payment card or using the card to pay bills online allows consumers to track payments, avoid late payment fees, accumulate rewards points and frees them from having to go to a physical location to make a payment. Plus with the Verified by Visa cardholder identity authentication service, consumers can make online payments with their Visa card with the assurance that their payment will be processed securely,” Jung added.

Of those respondents from the Visa survey who had paid bills online before, 26 percent said online bill payment allows them to save time, while 25 percent said they enjoyed the flexibility to be able to pay bills anytime. Twelve percent said that paying online helped them keep a record of their spending making it easier for them to manage their bill payments.

On average, respondents across all six markets paid US$74 worth of bills online over the period of a year. Malaysian respondents spent the most (US$101) followed by respondents from Indonesia ($88) and mainland China (US$74).

The most common types of bills paid online in the past six months were for mobile phone service (57 percent), payment card purchases (52 percent), internet access (49 percent) and utilities (39 percent).