What payers really think about PayTo

At the end of 2022, we made the exciting announcement that GoCardless is officially live with PayTo. In case you’re unfamiliar, PayTo allows businesses to initiate instant, verified payments from their customers’ bank accounts. Approval is only required once, making it simple to collect one-off and recurring bank payments within the checkout, and it offers greater visibility through real-time confirmation of successful payments. In fact, PayTo has been hailed as a game-changer for its huge potential to reduce hidden fees, merchant costs, fraud and even failed payments.

We know that the GoCardless team are payment geeks, so we wanted to find out how consumer payers feel about this new way to make payments. So as part of our new report, Demystifying Payer Experience, we worked with YouGov to survey over 1,000 payers from across Australia and asked for their honest opinions about PayTo.

34% of consumers are ready to start using PayTo

A massive 94% of Australians trust bank payments, making them the most trusted way to pay. So, when asked if they would try the latest way to make payments via their bank account, it isn’t surprising to learn that 34% of consumers said they’re likely to use PayTo when the technology is available to them.  

When asked why they would try PayTo, a payment method that’s new to the market…

• 24% said PayTo sound like a convenient way to make payments 

• 21% believe that it could be a better version of direct debit

• 19% agree that PayTo sounds like a more secure way to pay

• 17% are excited about easier and alternative ways to pay using their bank account

Security is key

As you can see above, nearly a fifth of payers are interested in using PayTo because of how secure it is. This is something businesses need to take note of as the security and privacy of payer data was revealed to be the number one factor for how consumers choose their preferred payment method. So, as PayTo continues to gain popularity and become more mainstream, it would only make sense that more people choose it as their preferred way to pay. 

When we took a closer look at the demographics, we noticed that 25-34 years olds are the most likely to try making a payment through PayTo. This doesn’t seem surprising given that our previous research has found that 54% of Gen Z and millennials plan to explore new ways to save and make money to combat the effects of the cost of living crisis. 

We did also find out that nearly a fifth of consumers haven’t made their minds up yet about PayTo and whether they would use it. It will be interesting to see how this evolves as PayTo becomes more widely available and consumers can start to explore how it works for themselves. 

What else do consumers care about at the checkout?

The full Demystifying Payer Experience Report is now available to download and read for free. In the report, you can find out more insights on what payers want when it comes to making payments, plus where other businesses are planning to invest over the next two years.

Read the report now.