Paying Your Bill Should Not Be An Obstacle Course

The experiential case for simple bill payment.

Ravi Singh, User Experience Architect

The mutual agreement

Reliably render a service or product that lives up to its promise

Always pay for that product or service in full and on-time

BusinessCustomer

And everybody stays happy…

A real world customer experience

Go buy a refrigerator •A friendly salesman greets and offers to help you•Many options are given to you with no restriction•You can touch, prod and play with the product•You can ask questions and get answers•Product features are clearly labeled (including cost)•You can pay many ways, including not at all:

Cash, Credit, Check, Debit or Financing (ex: 12 month, no interest)•At point of purchase:

– You can provide coupons or be given a promotional discount– Other features, products or warranties may be upsold– You may “Register” for special offers and a store credit card

•The focus of the experience is on ownership•The store will eliminate all barriers to conversion•A salesperson will thank you and encourage you to return

Good experiences off-line

There are fundamentals to good retail experiences, whether at Starbucks, Target, Apple or elsewhere:

•Good service with a human touch•Relevant and good quality products•Easy shopping, store navigation and selection•Help available when needed•Flexible and painless transactions•Comfort through return policies or warranties

Incongruent experiences online

Online commerce regularly falls short of good experience:

•Requirement to register before transacting•Lack of human touch (forms, errors, copy, imagery)•Limitations on payment methods•Inflexibility in data entry (date, phone, names, passwords)•Difficult navigation and too many steps•Poor recovery from errors, no help when needed•Inconsistency across retailers•Too many hard sells and requirements on customers (required registration, paperless or autopay signup)

The broken agreement

Reliably render a service or product that lives up to its promise

Always pay for that product or service in full and on-time

BusinessCustomer

If a customer has a bad experience, nobody’s happy…

Even if a business offers something great…

Consequences of bad customer experience

The risks are great:•Fewer transactions begun online•More shopping carts abandoned•Less inclination to self-serve online•No word of mouth referrals•Bad reviews and lost prospects•Fewer return customers•Lost shareholder value

Online Payment

Here’s a standard process for paying a bill online, from the customer view:

Online Payment – pain points

Even with a logical process, customers experience numerous pain points:

Do I know the URL? Is it on my bill? Should I use

Google?

I don’t see “Pay Your Bill” anywhere on the

homepage

I don’t have my account number. Too many steps.

I don’t want to register.

Online Payment – pain points

Even with a logical process, customers experience numerous pain points:

Too difficult to properly enter data.

What about Pay Pal?

My online bill doesn’t match my invoice. Why is this a pdf?

Can’t remember my password or username.

I want a simpler password.

Online Payment – pain points

Even with a logical process, customers experience numerous pain points:

What is a nickname? I don’t feel secure saving my financial

info.

Why does the amount due still appear on my

dashboard?

No “Thank you”?I hope this is easier next

time.

How can we improve bill payment?

1. Have a clear point of entry for bill pay on the homepage.

2. Eliminate the requirement to register.

3. Allow for any possible payment method.

4. Make the steps simple with few opportunities for errors.

5. At the end of guest payment, push express registration when customer is most willing.

Why so many incomplete registrations?

Customers don’t register because: 1. They don’t want to bother, since other options are available (phone, in person, by

mail, or through a third party or bank).2. They don’t have time (including error recovery, number of fields and steps it make

take as long as bill payment)3. They don’t have the required information on-hand.4. They don’t want to enter and save personal information online if they can avoid it.5. They see it as an extra step to the task they came to complete.6. They don’t perceive the required account as a convenience.7. They are simply exercising free will to avoid creating yet another account on

another website. At one retail energy provider website, only 40% of people who began registration completed it. Bottom line: Registration is a barrier to entry and should be optional.

Homepage Pay Bill Options Guest Payment

View Bill and Pay Verify Payment Confirmation and Next Steps

Pay Your Bill

Logon and Pay

Register Now

Just Pay Now

Account Number (Look up)

Personal Identification

Email Address

Continue

Current Balance: $XX.XX

Pay this amount: $______

Card/Bank details Continue

Almost done

Review all info   Submit Payment

Confirmation Receipt Register your account now:Setup username/passwordAgree to terms

Simple Guest Payment Flow

Honor the agreement

Reliably render a service or product that lives up to its promise

Always pay for that product or service in full and on-time

BusinessCustomer

…businesses need to take more responsibility for making the exchange easier for customers.

Beyond just providing a product or service…