Payment in shops revealed as the most popular way of paying bills among Romanians
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Bucharest, 9 October 2012: Romanian consumers have welcomed the introduction of new, convenient bill payment facilities in local shops, with almost half those asked believing that payment through electronic terminals installed in shops is the best way to pay. In a national survey by Daedalus Millward Brown on behalf of PayPoint Romania,payment in local shops was twice as popular (44.8%) than at the service providers’ cash offices (22%). Similar numbers prefer to pay at post offices and banks (11.5% and 11.4% respectively), while via ATMs (6.1%), online (3.9%) and through direct debit (0.5%) are the least popular methods of payment. The research also provided valuable insight into payment attitudes and behaviour of Romanians. Encouragingly, the average Romanian takes a very responsible attitude towards household bills, putting them at the top of their priorities for payment against other expenditure. Almost two-thirds of Romanians (63.7%) plan their budget so they first take care of household bills, such as electricity, gas and water, while, at the opposite end of the spectrum, 12.8% claim they don’t plan their budget at all. The remaining 23.5% claim to have good intentions in planning their budget but admit to sometimes having other priorities than paying their bills. The generally responsible behaviour shown by Romanians is reflected in their attitude towards paying on time. More than half (52.4%) say they always pay their bills before the due date, while a further 39.6% say they often pay before the due date. Perhaps reflecting the quick penalties for non-payment, only 8.0% admit to frequently or even always paying their bills late. The reason why people who pay their bills using a payment terminal in local shops prefer that method of payment becomes clear when they say how long they spend at the chore. Three-quarters (75%) of PayPoint users estimate that they spend less than 10 minutes per month paying their bills, while only 11.7% of people who pay their bills elsewhere can claim to spend as little time on the task. Indeed, the majority of those who prefer other payment methods lose up to one hour every month paying their bills. Cash is still the favourite method of Romanians for paying their bills, with more than 90% opting for cash against payment by card. Mugur Dogariu, Managing Director PayPoint România, said: “The results of this study show that Romanians understand and value the benefits of bill payment through electronic devices installed in local shops: the security of transactions, the speed and simplicity of the procedure, the ease of paying in neighbourhood stores and the ability to pay more than one bill at the same time are all important benefits to Romanian consumers. We see the results of this research validated every day in the shops where PayPoint terminals have been installed: Romanians are more and more open and confident in using this method of payment.” ENDS.... NOTE For further information, please contact: |