Credit Counselor: Online Bill Payment Attracts Low Risk Consumers.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

With the continuing improvement of online technology and ease of use, more and more people are also getting comfortable with paying their bills, including mortgages, online.

In a December 2001 online poll of 2,201 customers, 30% said that they paid their home mortgage bills online. CheckFree Corp., an Atlanta-based provider of electronic billing and payment solutions, sponsored the poll.

As of the same month, approximately 3.6 million households were using electronic bill payment and presentation technology, according to a study done by Jupiter Media Metrix, a New York-based analyst research and measurement company, analyzing changes caused by the Internet and new technologies, and how these changes directly impact business performance, management and strategy.

Jupiter also predicted, at the time, that the number of households using electronic bill payment and presentation technology "will more than double in 2002 to 7.8 million, eventually reaching 44.5 million households in 2006."

What is the value to borrowers that electronically pay their mortgages? It's an easy question that servicers readily responded to.

Shawn Williams, manager of electronic payment systems at Countrywide Home Loans Inc., Calabasas, Calif., said, "They are quality customers that pay on time and are more timely payers than other customers in our portfolio."

From a cross-selling perspective, he added, "They are more accepting of online marketing material and we are able to more attribute it to their needs on an individual basis."