COVID-19 Causes 42% of Americans to Miss Bill Payments
This article originally appeared on The Fintech Times
doxo, a web and mobile bill pay service, has released new survey data that examines how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted consumers’ ability to pay their bills. With over half (57%) of Americans reporting a reduced income, the latest doxoINSIGHTS Bill Pay Impact Report shows that 42% of consumers missed at least one bill payment in the past seven months due to financial effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, consumers continue to be worried about their ongoing ability to pay bills, and what this will mean for the future of their overall financial health.
Key findings from the latest doxoINSIGHTS Bill Pay Impact include:
Consumers have struggled to pay their bills over the last 6+ months
- 27% have missed auto loans
- 26% have missed utilities
- 25% have missed cable/internet
- 20% have missed rent
- 17% have missed mortgage
- 10% have missed health insurance
Consumers are worried about their future ability to pay bills
- 77% believe that if they were to lose their job, they would only have enough runway for six months or less
- 62% believe they could only pay their bills for three months or less
- 35% believe they could only do so for one month or less
- 30% of consumers believe they will need to ramp up the use of their credit cards to pay their bills
- 39% believe that they will need to skip paying at least one or more bills in the future:
-
- 29% are likely to skip cable/internet
- 28% are likely to skip utilities
- 28% are likely to skip rent
- 15% are likely to skip health insurance
-
Consumers continue to be concerned with the future of their financial health
75% of consumers continue to be very worried about the future of their financial health, down only slightly from the 82% who were worried when the pandemic first started.
“Our data shows that more than half of all Americans have seen a reduction in income as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. It is therefore no surprise that many have also struggled to pay their bills over the last seven months since the pandemic started,” said Jim Kreyenhagen, VP of Marketing and Consumer Services at doxo. “With no end in sight for economic recovery, we’re seeing that consumers remain not only worried about their ongoing ability to pay bills, but how the pandemic will impact their future financial health.”