Consumers pay more bills online, but the check habit persists.

• Position: Marketing News - New survey results from TowerGroup - Brief Article

While consumer use of electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) is on the rise, paper checks remain a hard habit for most Americans to break, according to a new survey by TowerGroup, Needham, Mass.

The research and advisory services company surveyed nearly 4,000 households, weighted by age and income to representall U.S. households. Some highlights:

* More consumers are looking at their bills online. In 2002,20 percent of U.S. consumers have viewed electronic bills or billing statements online-versus only 1 percent in 1998.

* The use of online bill payment continues to grow. In 2002, 13 percent of all U.S. consumers used online bill payment--versus only 2 percent of households in...