PAYINC IT LATE

摘要

As the country fell deeper into recession last year, consumers paid an average of 2.6 bills late over the previous six months, according to a Western Union Payment Services survey released last December. It's a source of anxiety: Half of the respondents reported more stress about meeting their financial obligations. This stress has had a negative impact on their work performance (17 percent), family life (22 percent), and relationships with their spouse or partner (22 percent).rnConsumers also are forced to make tough decisions on which bills to pay on time and which to pay late or not at all. A fifth of respondents are paying bills late, and 31 percent are waiting longer to payrnthem. Respondentsrnsaid they had the most trouble paying theirrnelectric/gas/wa-ter utilities (31rnpercent), primary credit card (28 per-rncent), and cable TV or satellite provider (22 percent). (See Figure 1.) Among those respondents who said that they were likely to pay bills late or default in the future, the highest proportion (37 percent) pointed to the cable/satellite bill. The next in line? The utility bill, at 35 percent. Right now, 16 percent of respondents said they are paying their utility bill late already.