It’s National Payroll Week this week (September 5 to 9) and electronics payments association NACHA – which represents over 10,000 financial institutions – has just released a survey that provides some interesting insights into the payroll habits of U.S employees.
Of the analysis into the data that was provided as part of the survey results, these were some of the interesting findings:
1. 25% employees continue to receive paper cheques.
Although direct deposit provides convenience, still one out of four employees receive their pay through paper cheques.
2. Convenience is the key reason why people use direct deposit.
Although safety (35%) and environmental friendliness (21%) were cited as some reasons to use direct deposit, convenience still ranks as the main reason (71%).
3. While ‘Early Adopters’ are more open to using direct deposit, Gen Y employees are surprisingly less so.
75% of non Gen Y employees use direct deposit while 72% of Gen Y do. The most likely reason, I surmise, is that more Gen Y employees are working in less permanent employment. On the other hand, ‘Early Adopters” – the respondents who consider themselves the first to try new technology – are more open to use direct deposit (78%) than ‘Cautious Adopters’ (74%) or ‘Laggards’ (also 74%).
4. ‘Early Adopters’ are more likely to split their direct deposit over multiple accounts.
Only around 63% of ‘Early Adopters’ put all their pay into one account, whereas 79% of ‘Cautious Adopters’ and 85% of ‘Laggards’ use one account. The main reason accorded is safety.
