Billing and Payment Preferences in Australian Residential Supply

Table of Contents

• DATAMONITOR VIEW
  • CATALYST
  • SUMMARY
  • METHODOLOGY
• INTRODUCTION
  • Billing, payment and late payment account for approximately 40% of the residential cost-to-serve
• ANALYSIS
  • How customers currently pay their bills and why they choose such methods
  • How customers would prefer to pay their bills
  • Incentivising customers to pay by Direct Debit
  • Frequency of bill payment
  • Interest in particular billing and payment options
    • Bill smoothing
    • Combined gas and electricity bill
    • Paper versus electronic billing
• SUMMARY
  • Key findings
• APPENDIX
  • Further reading
  • Ask the analyst
  • Customer support
  • List of Tables
    • Table 1: How Australians currently pay their electricity and gas bills
    • Table 2: Why consumers choose to pay by that method
    • Table 3: Current vs. preferred methods of payment
    • Table 4: Would you still pay by credit card if you were required to pay the 1% merchant fee?
    • Table 5: Attractiveness of incentives for switching to Direct Debit
    • Table 6: Attractiveness of incentives for switching to Direct Debit - by electricity spend per annum*
    • Table 7: How interested are you in bill smoothing?
    • Table 8: How interested are you in bill smoothing? - by electricity spend per annum
    • Table 9: How interested are you in receiving a combined gas and electricity bill?
    • Table 10: Preferred billing options: paper vs. electronic
    • Table 11: Preferred billing options: paper vs. electronic - by electricity expenditure spend
  • List of Figures
    • Figure 1: How Australians currently pay their electricity and gas bills
    • Figure 2: Attractiveness of incentives for switching to Direct Debit
    • Figure 3: Attractiveness of incentives for switching to Direct Debit - electricity spend per annum
    • Figure 4: What is the preferred frequency for paying an electricity or gas bill?