Half of millennials would rather use BPAY than direct debit

Nearly three in four (73%) of Australian millennials are frustrated with managing direct debit payments, according to a recent RFi survey.

The survey of over 2,000 millennials consumers in March found 29% are concerned about not having enough money in their account when direct debits are processed, and are worried about when money will be taken out of their account. 

A quarter (25%) of millennials said they're also worried about updating their bank card when it expires in time before the next round of direct debits come out, while 20% said they're not sure how much money they'll be charged for their bills. 

"The research shows that millennials are the most frustrated age group when it comes to managing their direct debit, but it doesn't have to be this way," said Keith Brown, BPAY Group General Manager Product, Scheme and Business Development. 

"When you use BPAY you are in control. You can choose what to pay and how much to pay.

"Unlike direct debit, you can easily change a scheduled bill payment at any time and it's easy to use BPAY to schedule your bill payments."

The research also found that half of millennials would prefer to use BPAY if it's an option rather than direct debit. 

"BPAY is still the preferred way to pay bills and is used by over 60% of all Australians over 18."

'Bill now, pay later'

With buy now, pay later (BNPL) platforms surging in popularity, payments platform Deferit recently reported it had paid over 600,000 bills for customers since launching in 2018.

Of those, 200,000 were processed in the last five months coinciding with news of JobKeeper payments ending.

Deferit CEO Jonty Hirsowitz said the platform has over 250,000 users in Australia after experiencing a surge in sign ups since the pandemic. 

“What we’ve seen is that more Australians are turning to Deferit as an avenue of support as they are forced to become more strategic about the way they manage their bill payments over each pay period," Mr Hirsowitz said.

"With JobKeeper coming to an end, we expect to see even more people make the proactive decision to sign up and take control of their finances in a way that gives them greater flexibility and peace of mind that they aren’t at risk of getting caught out by late fees."

Deferit, which allows users to split their bills across four fortnightly instalments, is one of the only BNPL platforms for everyday bills in Australia.

Customers can have their everyday household and telecommunication bills or car registration paid by Deferit, which is then paid back in four equal instalments for a fixed monthly fee of $5.99, with no interest or late fees charged. 

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