Students say managing bills is the hardest part of being an adult at university

With over half a million UK students expected to head¹ to university for the first time this Autumn, a Visa study² reveals that more than a third (39%) of current UK university students say managing bills is the hardest part of adulting* at university. This ranks higher than other struggles including eating healthy meals (31%), maintaining a clean home (29%) and doing laundry (26%).

Additionally, almost 9 in 10 (88%) students admit to feeling overwhelmed by the financial side of adulting. This is despite 80% of students feeling that education has prepared them for adult life, showing a clear gap in financial skills, including the handling of bill payments.

Paying for recurring bills and subscriptions through bank transfers remains largely unchanged since the inception of direct debit 60 years ago. Manual processes and limited, outdated consumer safeguards can make this ‘adulting’ task even harder for university students learning to manage bills for the first time.

The challenge of bill management for students

Some of the pain points felt by students managing their bills at university include:

• Over two thirds (69%) said a bill or subscription being unexpectedly higher has left them worse off 
  
• Almost half (48%) have missed a payment due to insufficient funds 
  
• More than a quarter (27%) say unexpectedly high charges have affected their ability to pay for essentials (e.g. rent, groceries) 
  
• Almost one in five (19%) say they had no control over the payment leaving their account
  
• One in five (22%) also said they had previously given up trying to recover money as the process was too difficult, following being overcharged for a bill
  

The findings also revealed that students argue more with their housemates about bill payments (47%) than they do about any other topic, such as cleanliness (43%), noise (30%), or chores (29%).

How Visa A2A can help

Students coming to grips with paying bills for the first time are soon set to benefit from Visa A2A, a new solution from Visa, designed to make managing recurring bills and subscriptions smarter. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of current university students say they would welcome technology that makes bill management easier.

More generally when it comes to managing bills, students also said they are interested in greater flexibility with payment dates (29%), greater understanding over payment terms (28%) and the ability to cancel or switch easily (28%).

Visa A2A, aims to give consumers greater choice, control and protection when they pay via bank transfer, enabling them to easily manage all their bills and subscriptions through their banking app. Its introduction is expected to help ease the burden for students managing their personal finances, particularly the 88% who say the financial side of adulting makes them feel overwhelmed.

Mandy Lamb, Managing Director, UK and Ireland at Visa, commented: “Leaving home for the first time is a memorable milestone, bringing a sense of independence as well as the responsibility of having to manage your finances on your own. This can be daunting without the right tools, and when things go wrong, students can often feel lost and unsure where to seek help."

“We believe our Visa A2A solution can help students to build confidence in managing their money. By simplifying the way students manage their bills, we can give them greater visibility into how much money is coming out of their account and when, while giving them a way to recover their money if something goes wrong.
“Bank transfers rely on technology that has been largely the same for 60 years, which is why we’re launching Visa A2A to modernise this form of payment.”

Looking ahead

Visa A2A technology, which is now ready for market in the UK, enables a smarter digital experience than the traditional system in place for bank transfers used for bills and subscriptions. It also includes advanced security features and a dispute resolution service - improving the pay by bank experience. This will effectively provide a similar level of protection typically associated with card payments, aiming to help consumers get their money back if something goes wrong.

For more information, visit: https://www.visa.co.uk/businesses/account-to-account.html