PayPoint: Almost half Romanians pay bills through terminals and only 3.9% do so over the internet

Cristina Blanaru Business, Marketing, Studies

Almost half of the Romanians interviewed by Daedalus Millward Brown during a research for PayPoint Romania said they consider payment of their utility bills via electronic terminals in stores as the best way to do that. The research for PayPoint generated some important conclusions related to the way Romanians are managing the payment of their utility bills and the methods they prefer to use.

According to the study, 44.8% from interviewed people consider that utility bills payments is best to be done through electronic terminals, second most preferred method being the payments at bill issuer’s cash in points (21.95%). Those 2 methods are followed by payments at postal offices (11.5%), at banks’ offices (11.2%), direct payments via ATM, inside banks (6.1%), via internet (3.9%) and via direct debit (0.5%).

In what concerns Romanians payments habits, they prioritize paying their utility bills before any other expenses. Most Romanians (63.7%) plan their budget considering 1st bill payment while only 12.75% say they don’t plan their budget. Less than a quarter of Romanians (23.55%) say they carefully plan their budget and, sometimes, they have other priorities than bills.

When it comes to bills deadline, 52.4% say they always pay their bills before deadline, 39.65 % frequently pay before that and only 7.95% say they pay after deadline expired. Also, when it comes of monthly period of time spent for paying bills, 75% of PayPoint users estimate they spend less than 10 mins a month.

Romanians still prefer to pay their bills with cash, with over 90% choosing this option instead of paying with the card.

The results of the study show that Romanians understood and consider really useful and important the benefits of paying bills through electronic terminals in stores: safety of transactions, fastness, simplicity, paying close to home, paying more bills in the same time and the same place. The conclusions of the research are confirmed every day in the stores where we have installed PayPoint terminals: Romanians are more and more open and trustful in this payment method

Mugur Dogariu

Managing Director PayPoint Romania.

 The study was made by Daedalus Millward Brown at national level, between March 19th – 26th, on a sample of 1,000 people, both users and non-users of PayPoint services, in PayPoint partner stores from urban and rural areas.