New report reveals, Australian and New Zealand consumers prefer Bank Debit for household bills and instalments payments
GoCardless has launched research into global consumer payment preferences for recurring purchases. The research, conducted by YouGov, found Australian and New Zealand consumers still prefer to use Bank Debit to pay household bills and instalments.
The Payment Preferences for Recurring Purchases: 2019 Consumer Payer Report found that 46 per cent of Australian consumers are likely to choose Bank Debit for household bills and instalments, nearly double the number who were likely to choose to pay using their digital wallet. Australia had the highest number of ‘very likely’ responses for Bank Debit out of all the markets surveyed – including the UK, US, Germany, France and other European countries.
The preference to pay for household bills and instalments using Bank Debit is even higher in New Zealand. Just over half (53 per cent) of respondents said they were likely to pay in this way for household bills. Meanwhile, 49 per cent of respondents were likely to choose Bank Debit when making instalment payments, compared to 37 per cent and 36 per cent who were likely to choose debit and credit cards respectively.
Carolyn Breeze, General Manager, GoCardless Australia and New Zealand, said: “Despite the wide choice of payment methods available today, consumers continue to choose to use Bank Debit as a payment method because it’s the one they know and trust. For the merchant and consumer, the availability of Bank Debit is mutually beneficial. It reduces the friction inherent in other payment methods, therefore easing cash flow concerns and offering a more direct, trusted and intimate payment exchange. GoCardless’ recent entry into the ANZ market, after securing more than USD$75 million in funding to support our global expansion plans, aims to support local businesses who understand that choice of payment is paramount. If you fail to offer a variety of relevant, convenient and trusted options for recurring payments, consumers will go elsewhere if they can’t pay the way they want.”
Other findings of the report include:
- For online subscriptions, 35 per cent of Australian consumers were unlikely to pay using digital wallets, while 32 per cent were unlikely to pay with credit card
- For traditional subscriptions, 38 per cent of Australian consumers were unlikely to pay using digital wallets, while 31 per cent were unlikely to pay using a credit card
- There was significantly less antipathy to using digital wallets as a form of payment in Australia and New Zealand compared to globally
- 36 per cent of Australian and New Zealand consumers said they were likely to choose bank debit to pay for online subscriptions, yet of the 44 top global subscription websites, including HelloFresh and Spotify, only one offered bank debit as a payment option
The report showed there are many factors that influence how customers like to pay – some, deeply cultural. For example, in the United States cheques are still a popular payment method when paying regular household bills, which is not a common payment method when compared to European markets for example. Another insight of interest is that in Germany cash is still king, with 40 per cent of respondents ‘very unlikely’ to use credit cards and 29 per cent are unlikely to use debit cards either.
Commenting on the findings, Krish Subramanian, Co-founder and CEO of Chargebee, said: “It’s a mistake to think of customer preferences – for payments and everything else – as static, it’s also a mistake to isolate them within the constraints of a target segment. Seeing a brick and mortar store in Melbourne support AliPay with an adjacent segment (visitors from China, a surprising geography, but absolutely obvious users, nonetheless) in mind, I wondered, shouldn’t we all, as digital subscription businesses, keep our ears attuned to what’s possible.”
Diego Passarela, Head of Billing and Payments at Quandoo, said: “We offer Direct Debit as an alternative to cards in the UK, Germany, Italy and soon Australia. Wherever we offer Direct Debit, it’s the preferred payment option for our customers, with 50-85 per cent adoption.”
The report – Payment Preferences for Recurring Purchases, The Consumer Payer 2019 – is now available to download here: https://www.mysecuritymarketplace.com/product/payment-preferences-for-recurring-purchases-2019-consumer-payer-report/
