Person-to-person payments online or by mobile channels sparked the interest of about half of the consumers interviewed in a recent national study.
The study was sponsored by FIS, PayPal and NACHA and conducted by eCom Advisors. Findings were presented April 26 at the NACHA Conference in Seattle.
eCom Advisors said 48% of the respondents to a survey it administrated by Internet in February expressed interest in using electronic P2P for common needs such as sending money to a child in college or splitting the cost of a gift.
FIS said the research focused on understanding specific strategies to increase consumer adoption of online bill payment and P2P. It found that financial institutions will benefit most by promoting P2P payments to online and mobile banking and bill pay customers.
The researchers also examined the viability of the role of a financial institution as a centralized money movement portal. They found that of those interested in the portal concept, 70% said they would be likely to use P2P payment within that portal and 34% said they would be willing to switch to a bank that offered electronic P2P as part of an e-payment portal.
FIS said the e-payment portal "was a new product concept tested in the research and is defined as a service provided by a financial institution that allows consumers to transfer money, pay bills, conduct P2P payments, and track all their money movement from a single place online."
