Shaun Dobbin, CEO and Founder of Glider explored this topic in a wide ranging and interesting discussion with Kareem Al-Bassam, a payments expert who has helped shape payment systems over the past 25 years.Together, they explored how billers can learn from e-commerce while navigating their distinct complexities.
Consumer expectations have changed dramatically, influenced by innovations that have made people realise that they don’t have to tolerate poorly designed systems. Apple, for instance, has demonstrated how thoughtful design and secure systems can create unparalleled experiences, while Uber has shown how reducing friction—including in payments—can transform traditional services.
Similarly, the convenience, speed, and choice offered by e-commerce have redefined consumer preferences. Today’s customers expect the same simplicity when paying bills as they do when shopping online. They want payments to be fast, effortless, and secure—a far cry from the cumbersome processes traditionally associated with billers.
The core principle that billers can adopt is creating experiences that feel seamless and can be achieved in minimal steps. E-commerce operators design checkout processes that prioritise simplicity and ease. Billers can take inspiration by focusing on what their customer wants to achieve—not what their internal processes dictate.
Though Kareem cautions billers against directly mimicking e-commerce. Retailers often put their efforts into upselling or encouraging additional products at the checkout; something that just does not translate to the world of billing. Instead, billers should focus on providing a streamlined “one step and done” approach, along with offering a variety of convenient payment methods.
Billing organisations such as water utilities and energy providers, typically have legacy systems and processes that make it difficult to easily update the customer experience. And while these complexities are a real challenge for organisations, consumers simply don’t care. And they don’t see this as justification for poorly designed services.They expect intuitive, frictionless services regardless of what’s happening behind the scenes.
While overhauling legacy systems might seem daunting, billers can achieve significant improvements by starting small and being creative in the way they approach change. It doesn’t need to be a massive and expensive system change all in one go.
Adopting an agile approach - starting small, testing often and iterating to find what works - allows organisations to deliver quick wins that build confidence and pave the way for larger transformation. It’s not about perfection, by embracing experimentation (and that it’s ok to fail), teams can foster creativity and achieve meaningful progress without the pressure of getting everything right the first time.
RCS is an evolution of SMS that enables rich communications through a device’s native chat feature. A bit like the WhatsApp of texting, it offers a far better customer experience and the enhanced security reduces the risks of phishing. This is going to bring significant opportunity to e-commerce and billers alike as it enables fully branded, interactive and two-way engagement. While not yet widely adopted in Australia, we expect to see telcos start supporting it in 2025. Glider is already working with organisations on strategies and use cases for its adoption and we will be sharing more details in another article.
As consumers store card details across multiple platforms, managing these credentials becomes a growing concern. Consolidating this information will not only enhance security but also reduce the mental load on customers and the struggle to remember account details and which card is stored where…
Real-time payments and PayTo offer consumers more control over recurring payments and provide billers with a streamlined, immediate payment process. The usage of PayTo is going to rapidly increase and billers need to be thinking now about how they will introduce this into their processes.
There’s huge potential for billers to enhance their payment experiences, ultimately increasing payments collected, and improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. The key lies in delivering secure, seamless experiences across all channels while maintaining trust and adaptability.
You can also watch the video of the full conversation here.
Ready to improve your billing experience? Speak with one of our experts to explore how we can help streamline and simplify your bill payment experience.