Lenders should always be on the lookout for trends regarding how consumers prefer to shop. Being market-aware in this regard ensures that these businesses are serving their consumers well and keeping up with the conveniences that they are beginning to expect as the market evolves.

This is vital when figuring out how best to set up bill payments and what forms of payment a lender offers, as this can be the deciding factor for many consumers. As a result, it is important to monitor consumer bill payment trends and what consumers appreciate about a more modern age of fintech software tools.

To help businesses keep up with these trends, we are going to examine a few of them, which are:

• The development of digital identity
• Higher utilization of software lending tools
• Demand for embedded lending while shopping online

Development of Digital Identity

The concept of a digital identity refers to the ability of a consumer to verify their identity through information stored on a digital wallet or program. This almost always starts with a more traditional identity verification, then allows that information to be attached to a digital wallet so that the individual doesn’t have to jump through the same hoops the next time they need their identity verified.

This makes borrowing and paying bills much more convenient for consumers, creating less friction for future applications and contracts. It has also made it easier for customers with low access to official identity documents or for those that have a tougher time keeping them current to obtain financing. These digital identity programs will likely become a strong consumer expectation, especially for those that borrow frequently and want the process streamlined. These customers will likely prefer a financial institution that provides this functionality for them.

Higher Utilization of Software Lending Tools

A more longstanding trend that has spanned over the past few years, and continued to grow, is the use of software lending platforms to finance consumer purchases. When we discuss this, we are referring to the growing number of consumers with apps on their phones like Klarna or PayPal that they use to shop or finance through. 

Many banks have not yet added consumer financing functionality to their apps or don’t even offer the more common consumer lending products like pay-in-four. This is due to a variety of reasons depending on the circumstance, but the most common is simply that they haven’t historically offered these programs and are hesitant to invest the time and money to build out a tool.

Luckily, this can be aided by partnering with fintech firms that have grown in popularity for offering white-label lending platforms to which banks can attach their own branding. This makes it fast and easy for banks to offer these tools without having to build or maintain the software side themselves. They also offer even more popular functionality, like embedded lending, which leads us to our final trend. 

Demand for Embedded Lending While Shopping Online

Online shoppers have grown accustomed to having financing options available to them on the checkout screen of the online stores with which they shop. This increases flexibility in how they pay, when they pay, and how much they can afford. It raises revenues for both the merchants that support it on their sites and the lenders that partner with the fintechs that can embed the applications.

Luckily, Skeps offers a platform that helps banks and lenders keep up with all three of these consumer bill payment trends.

Adapt to Consumer Bill Payment Trends With Skeps

Skeps offers a comprehensive, end-to-end consumer financing platform that helps businesses modernize their entire payment process. Working with a whole network of established lenders, we go above and beyond one-click payment, also offering a one-click application process for several different types of consumer financing, including:

• Installment financing payment plans
• Co-branded credit cards
• Consumer loans and leases

If you’re looking to partner with a forward-thinking fintech company that will keep consumers' eyes on the purchase while offering best-in-class financing, Skeps is the perfect fit.