April is Financial Literacy Month, a time dedicated to highlighting the value of financial education in improving the fiscal well-being of all Americans. This includes a crucial aspect of personal finance that we all encounter: bill payments. 

Nowadays, digital literacy is arguably the most important aspect of this curriculum, as it addresses the ease with which the average billpayer can find and use digital channels for critical payments. Billing organizations can promote digital financial literacy by offering accessible online payment options, empowering their communities and streamlining revenue in the process. 

What is Digital Financial Literacy? 

Digital financial literacy is an emerging concept that emphasizes necessary knowledge and skills to carry out financial transactions on digital platforms.  

The research article “Digital financial literacy and financial well-being” defines digital financial literacy as financial knowledge plus four dimensions of digital literacy: 

• Digital knowledge 
• Awareness of digital financial services 
• Practical know-how of using digital financial services 
• The ability to avoid digital fraud 

That same research found that digital financial literacy was positively associated with financial well-being, largely due to the ability to avoid digital fraud. In fact, the positive impact of avoiding digital fraud was significantly greater than the impact of general financial knowledge. 

This means that true financial well-being requires the appropriate skills to apply financial knowledge on digital platforms. 

Let’s delve into how billing organizations can promote digital financial literacy with education and convenient payment options that empower their customers. 

How Do Your Customers Pay Bills? 

To truly support your customers, you must first understand their habits and preferences. That’s why we commissioned an external research agency to conduct a survey of over 2,000 Americans billpayers for insights on the latest trends in online and mobile bill payments.  

Here are a few key trends that offer some insight into how customers like yours are currently paying their bills. 

• Digital Payments Strongly Preferred: 85% of respondents prefer digital options for bill payments, which is largely driven by convenience and the fear of mail theft or check fraud.  

• Check Preferences Dwindled: Only 4% of people prefer to send a bill payment through the mail, and yet 21% of respondents have mailed in a check to pay their bills in the last 12 months. There’s work to be done to make digital options available and accessible for everyone who would rather not mail a check. 

• Increased Digital Wallet Usage: Digital wallets have surpassed ACH payments for the first time in this survey’s history. 

• Digital Payment Issues Continue: 72% of people have encountered a challenge with online bill payments in the last year. The top problems are forgetting login information (21%) and lack of payment options (17%), and 44% of these respondents missed or submitted late payments due to these challenges. 

How to Improve Digital Financial Literacy for Everyone 

To summarize: we know digital payments are broadly preferred, but challenges to access and use these options persist. So, how can billers improve digital financial literacy among all payers. 

1. Make Cashless and Mobile Payment Experiences Effortless 

Mobile channels continue to be the most used and most preferred channel for bill payment. This could be due to the sheer convenience of mobile options or a lack of access to the internet or laptops/desktop computers. 

Data from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration shows lower-income households are more likely to either have no in-home internet connection or be mobile-only, limiting the digital channels they can use for payments. Our research found that lower income households prefer mobile devices for bill payment, likely for this reason. 

However, our research also shows there’s significant willingness to adopt mobile wallets and other self-service payment options across several digitally resistant populations, including those 55 and older, the unbanked, non-English speakers, and check writers.  

Capitalize on this insight by prioritizing mobile optimization, including responsive design for diverse screen sizes and the option to use digital wallets for payment. 

2. Push Paperless 

Check writers are out there – but not necessarily by their choice. The gap between those who prefer checks and those who actively use them is significant, which means billers need to promote paperless billing options whenever possible. 

For some organizations, the time of the paper check may be coming to an end sooner than we realize. With the Federal Government ceasing paper payments by September 30, local governments nationwide are evaluating whether they’re prepared to drive all-time levels of digital adoption. 

Ideally, your payment system is designed to encourage customers to opt into paperless billing. Our data did find, however, that 76% of people would be open to their biller opting them into paperless billing on their behalf. Forty-nine percent would prefer their biller to get permission first, and 27% would prefer their biller to go ahead without checking. 

At InvoiceCloud, we help our billers’ run campaigns to get this permission, which have driven significant paperless adoption rates for billers like Truckee Meadows Water Assocation. 

3. Educate Customers on Digital Payment Options 

If customers don’t know about the range of payment options available to them, they simply will not use them. Share how-to guides and marketing collateral to educate customers on how to find and use digital payment options. 

Much like payment channel preferences, understanding how your customer base prefers to receive communications is critical. However, if you do not have access to this intel, there are a few “catchall” ways to communicate payment methods to customers:  

• Hang signs in-office. Whether it’s near your drop box, kiosk, or service window, posting information about additional payment options is a great way to reach folks coming in to drop off a check in-person. Including a QR code on fliers that direct customers to digital payment options is a great way to drive adoption to those channels.  
• Mail a paper notification. Even if you’re trying to reduce paper usage, sending a one-time notice to customer about your bill payment options will likely drive digital adoption for the future. Again, consider including a QR code on the envelope or within the message. 
• Send a text message, email, or voicemail. For those customers who have shared mobile numbers or email addresses, use these channels to share a link through which they can access your digital payment system, as well as information about your accessible methods.  

Get Additional Insights 

To learn more about the preferences of bill payers nationwide, get your free copy of the 2025 State of Online Payments report here.