E-Payments Exceed Check-Writing In Popularity With ConsumersE-Payments Exceed Check-Writing In Popularity With Consumers

More people are paying recurring bills electronically than by writing checks, a first since MasterCard International began tracking consumer payment habits, the credit-card company said Thursday.

More than two-thirds of U.S. households now pay some recurring bills automatically through credit or debit cards, the Purchase, N.Y.-based, company said in a study. That compared to 64 percent who wrote checks.

In addition, the number of bills paid automatically increased in the last five years to an average of 4.4 from 3.1. During the same period, the number of checks written declined by nearly half from 4.4 to 2.4. About half of the respondents in the study said they would consider adding additional electronic payments.

The service categories with the highest proportion of customers using automatic payments included telecom, online/internet services, health club memberships, Internet service providers, commuting expenses and toll paying. Categories expected to see growth in automatic payments include telephone, insurance, utilities, cable/satellite television, and magazine subscriptions.

The MasterCard study is based on in-person interviews with 762 consumers from 25 geographically dispersed markets. All respondents were between the ages of 21 and 64, and the margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.