Fix the Friction: 4 Ways to Make Bill Payments Work Better (Part 2)

Late payments are often chalked up to forgetfulness, disorganisation, or poor customer habits. But in many cases, the problem isn’t the customer—it’s the payment experience. When paying a bill feels confusing, inconvenient, or slow, even well-intentioned customers will delay. And every delay adds cost, complexity, and cash flow risk for your business.

The fix isn’t to chase harder, it’s to design smarter. By removing friction at key moments in the payment journey, you make it easier for customers to take action—without needing to escalate, call support, or be chased again later.

Glider's Payment Experience Maturity Model helps organisations assess their billing process and chart a path to a gold-standard experience. Once you’ve evaluated your current billing and payment process, the next step is to look for where you can remove friction.

Through our work with enterprise billing teams, these four areas consistently emerge as the biggest sources of delay, confusion, and drop-off. Here’s how to tackle them.

1. The Moment of Payment

Too many businesses make it unnecessarily hard to pay. Requiring customers to log in, remember reference numbers, or navigate unfamiliar portals creates unnecessary resistance and every extra step increases drop-off.

What works:

• • Use direct, actionable reminders delivered via SMS and email to cut through clutter and prompt immediate action.

  • Make the payment process seamless with one-click access or QR codes—no login, no portal navigation, no unnecessary steps.

  • Optimise layout for mobile-first experiences, with clear, focused calls to action like “Pay now” that reduce decision friction.

Streamlining the final step speeds up payments, lowers support costs, and improves customer experience.

2. Flexible Payment Methods Without the Confusion

Customers expect the same convenience when paying a bill as they do when shopping online—whether it’s with a credit card, PayPal, or Apple Pay. They assume they’ll be able to pay using the method that suits them best, without jumping through hoops.

While many billers offer a variety of payment options, those options are often inconsistent or hard to access. A customer might see BPAY on a paper bill, get a link to a card payment page via email, and receive an SMS reminder that doesn’t support payment at all. This fragmented experience creates uncertainty. And uncertainty delays action.

To improve the bill payment experience:

• • Offer a clear, modern set of payment methods including cards, PayTo, and digital wallets

  • Present those options consistently—no matter the channel the customer is in

  • Use reminders that take customers directly to their personalised payment flow, with preferred methods ready to go

Giving customers the payment options they expect eliminates friction and drives faster action.

3. Deliver a Seamless Experience Across Every Channel

Customers don’t think in terms of channels. Whether they’re opening an email, getting an SMS, or chatting with a live agent, they expect the experience to feel the same: clear, simple, and connected. But many organisations still deliver disjointed billing experiences. The payment path in an email might differ from what’s offered via chatbot or contact centre. A mobile reminder might link to a login-heavy portal, even if the customer just spoke with an agent. These mismatches introduce friction, and friction delays payments.

To build trust and drive faster action:

• • Maintain a consistent payment journey across all touchpoints—email, SMS, chatbot, phone, portal, and print

  • Make it easy for customers to complete payment in context, without having to reauthenticate or switch channels

  • Provide a unified tone, design, and interaction style to build confidence and reduce drop-off

A unified experience across all channels builds trust and accelerates payments.

4. Make It Real-Time

No one likes waiting to see if a payment has been confirmed, especially when it affects access to services or triggers support calls.

Real-time options like PayTo eliminate uncertainty, giving customers instant confirmation and your team better visibility. And just as importantly, it signals trust. When customers feel reassured that their payment has gone through, without having to check or call, you reduce support load, improve confidence, and accelerate cash flow.

Next Step: Map the Moments That Matter

The next step is to start mapping your customer journey. Glider’s Customer Journey Mapping Template helps you visualise your full bill-to-payment experience across all relevant touchpoints: email, SMS, chatbot, portal, print, contact centre.

It prompts your team to:

• • Map each key stage in the journey

  • Identify customer pain points and missed handoffs

  • Tag friction points to specific maturity model capabilities

  • Capture improvement opportunities

This is a hands-on tool that works best in a workshop format. Use it to align teams around the current state and define what “better” could look like across channels and stages. Identifying and addressing friction points, informed by maturity assessments and behavioural insights, lays the groundwork for more strategic, customer-centric billing experiences.

>Speak with our team to access the Glider Customer Journey Mapping Template. 

Next in the series: Build on this foundation with consistent, proactive billing communications. Part 3 in the series talks about how to design consistent, proactive reminders and communications.

Or, talk to us about how Glider can help your organisation create better billing outcomes, without complexity or huge overhauls. Speak with our team today.

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