Life moves fast—and people want their billing and payment experience to move with it. That's why more consumers are using mobile to quickly review and pay bills, receive alerts and get information about their accounts.

But compared to other industries, insurance is lagging on the mobile front: Only 52% of the industry has an overall mobile billing strategy, according to the fourth Biller Mobile Bill Pay Benchmark Study.

Today’s insurance billers operate in a world that is more competitive than ever before. Companies are benchmarked not so much against their peers, but against the service consumers get with Amazon. It’s not enough to check the box for a mobile bill pay function. Insurance billers must meet consumer expectations for an attractive user experience when it comes to making premium payments.

Billing and payments have emerged as a strategic front-end customer engagement opportunity, compared to the back-office data processing function of the past. Research shows that mobile bill pay functionality is a top reason consumers engage with service providers via the mobile channel. One in four visits to a biller homepage now comes from a mobile device, according to findings from Fiserv. And results from Fiserv’s eighth Billing Household Study show that 64% of consumers say paying a bill via mobile improves customer satisfaction, while nearly three-quarters of online consumers say they are interested in mobile “bill due” reminders.

Offering these types of alerts is an opportunity for insurance organizations to gain momentum with paperless e-bill adoption, which right now accounts for only one-third of customers. Ultimately, mobile billing and payment alerts can not only boost paperless e-bill adoption, but also drive down late payments and customer care calls.

Engaging policyholders with mobile bill payment also encourages downloading apps that may have other advanced functionality, such as on-the-spot claims capabilities with camera access. When a channel allows for customer engagement, revenue and retention opportunities increase.

But a mobile strategy is not without challenges. IT resources are one of the top obstacles, and a second key concern from 82% of billers is security. After all, mobile adds more access points, an additional channel to manage and more payments to protect.

In addition, as more insurers use mobile payments, the number of card-funded payments increases as well. Seventy-four percent of insurers now accept card-funded payments—and 68% expect mobile bill pay to spur growth of card-funded bill payments. Interchange fees make these payments more expensive to process, especially for credit and prepaid cards.

Make sure you have a comprehensive payment mix and strategy to manage costs for the new mobile billing and payment age. To stay ahead of changing requirements—such as operating system updates, app requirements, integration with other channels and screen sizing—the industry might need to consider working with trusted experts that simplify the process.

Thinking about implementing a consumer-facing mobile app at your agency? Check out the October IA cover story for tips on which providers to consider, what the process entails and more.

Eric Leiserson is director of research at Fiserv.