Want to  make your  customers or clients happier with you? Let them pay their bills electronically. A PayItGreen Survey 2010 reports that consumers who pay bills online-only are more satisfied than those who don’t.

The survey also found that  payments online, either via ACH payments,  credit cards or direct from banking sites appeals to consumers “green” consciousness about helping the environment.

As might be expected, consumers ages 55 to 64 are farthest behind in making the switch to online payments.  But twice as many 25- to 34- year olds have adopted paperless bill payment

According to PayItGreen, if only 20% of American households switched from paper to electronic bills, statements, and payments, nearly 2 million trees, 151 million pounds of paper, and more than 100 million gallons of gas would be saved every year.

Mobile phone (49%), student loan (49%) and Internet (44%) bills are those most commonly received electronically only.

Utility companies lag behind other industries in electronic billing adoption.  For example, electricity (33%), gas (32%), and water (24%) were some of the lowest percentages of online bill pay.