Nearly half of Americans that bank online are interested in using electronic person-to-person payments, according to research sponsored by Fis, PayPal and Nacha.
According to the poll of 1180 active online bankers, conducted by eCom Advisors, 48% are interested in replacing cash and cheques with P2P payments for common needs such as sending money to a child at college, or out of the country, or for splitting the cost of a gift with family members or friends.
To encourage adoption, banks need to position electronic P2P payments as a component of a payment and money movement portal, says eCom Advisors. The firm tested the concept of an "ePayment Portal" - where consumers can transfer money, pay bills, conduct P2P payments, and track all their money movement from a single place online - for the research.
The survey shows that 70% of those interested in this portal would be likely to use P2P payment services within it. Furthermore, 34% who express interest in the portal concept say they would be willing to switch to a bank that offers electronic P2P payments as part of it.
Banks should promote P2P transfers to online banking and bill payment customers, as well as users of m-banking services, says eCom Advisors. The study also suggests that there should be a strong link between banks' mobile offerings and the electronic P2P portal concept.
Frank D'Angelo, EVP, Fis payment solutions group, says: "Fis was encouraged by results of the study indicating that almost three quarters of the participants surveyed are comfortable with the idea of P2P payment options and see the value proposition of having the ability to make all payments from within an ePayment Portal."