Majority of Canadians have paid bills late
Have you ever forgotten to pay a bill on time, missed the due date or misplaced a bill? If you have, you are not alone. These are the top three reasons that Canadians give for why they have missed paying their bills, according to the TD Canada Trust Everyday Banking Poll.
Canadians may be overlooking the implications of missed bill payments. A surprising 43% of respondents think that there is no consequence if they miss a bill payment – that they just pay the overdue amount on their next bill.
“If you routinely miss your bill payments each month, it can impact your credit rating,” said Carrie Russell, Senior Vice President, TD Canada Trust. “Missing payments by more than 30 days could influence your likelihood to secure a future loan or a credit card because credit-granting companies look at past performance on bill payments as an indicator of future behaviour. It is essential to pay your bills on time. Why jeopardize your ability to access credit in the future?”
Fifty-four per cent of Canadians report that they miss bill payments, but fortunately, of those who miss payments, 73% of Canadians only miss paying their bills one to three times per year.
Russell recommends the following five tips to avoid late bill payments:
- Have your bills sent to you electronically. It can be easier to keep track of than stacks of paper. And it is more environmentally-friendly too.
- Set-up pre-authorized withdrawals from your everyday bank account for your utilities and other bills
- Set-up an automatic transfer to pay your credit card’s minimum or total balance each month so that you can be sure to never miss a payment
- Avoid the hassle and cost of finding envelopes, cheques and stamps by paying your bills online or over the phone or at an ABM – this can easily save you $50 a year
- Post-date your online bill payments for a few days before the due date to allow time for processing. Why give away your money before it is necessary?
How do Canadians pay their bills?
According to the TD Canada Trust Everyday Banking Poll, online banking is the most popular method of paying bills, particularly for Canadians under the age of 50. Seventy-five per cent of those 18-to-29 pay their bills online and 78% of those 30-to-49 pay their bills online. The second most popular form of payment is to pay by a pre-authorized payment from their chequing account (58%).
Although the majority of Canadians choose to pay their bills online, 91% of Canadians still receive their bills by mail.
20% of Canadians say they still prefer to pay bills by cheque and 11% say that payment over the phone is their preferred method. Thirty-six per cent pay their bills at a bank branch. Canadians 50 plus still prefer the older methods of paying bills with 28% paying bills by cheque and 45% paying bills at their bank branch.
When do Canadians pay?
Only 36% of Canadians say that they pay their bills as close to the due date as possible. Forty-two per cent pay their bills as they come in and 18% collect all their bills each month and pay them at the same time.
Who pays the bills?
Sixty per cent of Canadians surveyed say that they are responsible for paying the household bills. Another 19% say that they share the responsibility with their partner and 13% say that their partner pays the bills. Those 18-to-29 are most likely to say that someone else in the household pays the bills (26%), which perhaps could be a parent.
Among those married or common-law, 37% say the bills are paid mainly by the wife and 34% are paid mainly by the husband. Only 28% of couples say that they equally share the bill payments. Married and common-law women are most likely to say that they pay the bills most often (51%) and slightly fewer men say they pay the bills themselves (46%).
