Picture Bill Pay Makes Traditional Bill Pay Less Sticky, BBVA Compass Says

BBVA Compass is counting on its new mobile photo bill pay product to make it an attractive candidate for those looking to switch banks, a senior bank official told Bank Innovation.

BBVA Compass became the second large bank in the nation, after US Bank, to release mobile photo bill pay last week. Called Picture Bill Bay, the feature is available to iPhone users via an update in the App Store. Two smaller banks in Texas also have a solution on the market.

Online bill pay is thought to be a very sticky feature — once you set it up, leaving your bank and doing it all over again becomes a daunting prospect. But picture bill pay may upend this dynamic.

“Think of the hassle of switching all the payees, the amounts, the dates to pay bills,” said Alex Carriles , EVP and director of digital channels development for BBVA. “With Picture Bill Pay, you can add payees very easily, and it makes transferring payees very easy. The competitive advantage of the product is adding payees.”

In other words, online banking’s stickiest feature may be getting less sticky, thanks to the power of the smartphone camera.

Carriles continued, “In bill pay, it’s easy to make a mistake when typing,” which means bill pay mistakes can be costly. “The process is easier and faster” using the mobile camera.

BBVA Compass’s mobile offerings are now top of the line, Carriles said. “You could be a fully mobile customer. You can sign up, enroll through the app, use mobile deposit, pay people with P2P, use bill pay, and now picture bill pay.”

But will bill pay customers loyal to online banking make the switch to mobile because of features like Picture Bill Pay? US Bank and the two small Texas banks that were first to market with photo bill pay are exploring this now.

Carriles sees potentially wide appeal in the product, and believes it will resonate with older, less tech-savvy customers, as well as the so-called digital natives or millennials. “Picture Bill Pay has features for both ends of the spectrum. For those who are not very proficient, or have difficulty typing with their thumbs, or are just not the most comfortable with the technology, it makes it simple. Just take a picture of your payment coupon and there you are.”

And for millennials, the novelty of the offering will be part of the attraction. “On the other end of the spectrum, millennials  and the technically inclined, it’s a fun thing, a cool thing, and they take to it very naturally.”

Carriles even put in a personal appeal for the product. “It’s just easier. My wife and I use it. Since I’ve been testing it, I haven’t been late paying a single bill.”

BBVA Compass is a US-based subsidiary of the global bank BBVA, SA. BBVA Compass holds approximately $69 billion in assets.