A recent PYMNTS Intelligence Report, “Digital Wallets Beyond Financial Transactions: U.K. Edition,” in collaboration with Google Wallet, reveals that 44% of British consumers plan to continue using digital wallets for financial transactions over the next three years. This statistic highlights a growing reliance on digital solutions during a shifting consumer landscape.

Additionally, Generation Z and millennial consumers are at the forefront of broadening the scope of digital wallet usage. Beyond typical transactions, these younger demographics are increasingly employing digital wallets for diverse purposes, such as peer-to-peer payments and event venue access. For instance, 37% of Gen Z consumers have utilized digital wallets for peer-to-peer payments or splitting bills, showcasing a trend toward integrating digital wallets into social and daily life activities.

The report also highlights a significant shift toward non-transactional uses of digital wallets among U.K. consumers. A notable 21% have leveraged their digital wallets for travel-related needs, from presenting boarding passes to accessing transportation tickets. This adaptability reflects consumers’ growing comfort with digital solutions for managing everyday tasks beyond financial transactions.

Expanding Use Beyond Transactions

The report reveals that more than 75% of U.K. consumers have used digital wallets over the past year, mainly for online shopping. This illustrates the convenience and growing acceptance of digital payment methods among British consumers.

Interestingly, digital wallets are increasingly serving purposes beyond financial transactions. For instance, they are being employed for travel-related needs such as storing boarding passes or transportation tickets. This diversification highlights the versatility and utility of digital wallets in facilitating everyday tasks beyond payments.

With digital wallets accessible via mobile devices, consumers find them convenient for scenarios like identity verification at events or even accessing digital services securely. This trend suggests a shift toward integrating digital wallets into various facets of daily life beyond the traditional retail transaction. According to the study, 37% of Gen Z and 27% of millennial consumers in the U.K. have used digital wallets to store credentials for non-transactional purposes.

Younger Generations Driving Adoption

Gen Zers and millennials are at the forefront of expanding the use cases of digital wallets. A significant percentage of these younger demographics in the U.K. are leveraging digital wallets for travel-related purposes, indicating a preference for digital solutions that enhance mobility and convenience.

According to the report, 88% of Gen Zers needed to verify their identities in the last year, with digital wallets being a preferred method for storing credentials. The widespread adoption of digital wallets among this demographic for identity verification illustrates their potential to extend beyond conventional payment contexts and become integral to everyday routines.

Younger consumers’ openness to using digital wallets for non-transactional purposes suggests they are paving the way for broader adoption among older demographics. As digital wallets become more integrated into daily routines, their utility and acceptance are likely to grow across all age groups.

Rising Popularity of Digital Wallets Signals Shift in Consumer Behavior

The shift toward using digital wallets for identity verification, particularly among younger demographics, signals a broader acceptance of digital solutions for managing personal credentials and enhancing security.

Consider that 77% of U.K. consumers use at least one digital wallet. As consumer behaviors evolve, businesses and service providers are expected to integrate digital wallet functionalities more extensively.

These developments accentuate a significant shift toward digital solutions that enhance convenience, security and accessibility in everyday consumer interactions. The report anticipates continued growth in digital wallet adoption, especially for identity verification. With expanding adoption across demographics, businesses and service providers are likely to increasingly incorporate these technologies to meet evolving consumer expectations.

The post 3 Big Ideas From PYMNTS Intelligence’s Digital Wallets UK Report appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The announcement Tuesday (July 23) by the money movement company applies to 2.1 billion mobile wallets worldwide, and is designed to enhance the cross-border payments experience for businesses and consumers.

“Payments initiated by financial institutions over Swift will reach TerraPay’s system with speed and efficiency, and with end-to-end transparency from account to wallet, powered by Swift’s transaction tracking capabilities,” TerraPay said in a news release.

Swift connects more than 11,500 financial institutions in more than 200 countries, while TerraPay’s network facilitates payments between those 2.1 billion wallets and 7.5 billion bank accounts around the world.

The company says the arrangement marks progress toward the G20’s goals for faster, more transparent, and less costly cross-border transactions. The G20 countries have said they want to see 75% of cross-border payments credited to their beneficiaries within an hour by 2027.

TerraPay Co-founder and CEO Ambar Sur said the development also “aligns seamlessly with our vision of fostering a borderless financial ecosystem where moving money everywhere is instant, reliable and compliant, especially to underserved consumers.”

“We estimate that we are reaching 600m unbanked consumers,” Sur added.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS spoke earlier this week with TerraPay Chief Operating Officer Ram Sundaram about advances in the payments industry this year.

“There are two ways you can increase revenue: either by charging a customer more, or by reducing your costs. And the use of technology in reducing costs is something that is easier to do than trying to charge the customer more,” said Sundaram, who spoke with PYMNTS during a discussion for the series “What’s Next in Payments: The Halftime Report.”

The World Bank’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for a reduction in the cost of cross-border remittances, which is now around 8%.

Sundaram said TerraPay’s efforts align with this goal. Cutting remittance costs can unlock new use cases for cross-border services, thus expanding revenue streams for financial institutions and service providers.

“If you do a $10 transaction today, you’ll probably spend a very significant part of that $10 as fees. And we need to get to a point where that base fee is something that you don’t have to think about, so that you can do low-value transactions at scale — that could change the landscape of cross-border payments and remittances,” he added.

“Apart from that, the way that you generate more revenues is that you create new use cases,” Sundaram said.

The post TerraPay Enables Cross-Border Payments to 2.1 Billion Mobile Wallets appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

Businesses and governments, the company wrote on its blog Tuesday (July 23), can use the technology to give customers and citizens a place to store their data.

“Over 60% of the world’s population is expected to use digital wallets regularly by 2026, and over half of consumers report interest in using them for a broader range of purposes,” the company said. “But the existing market has focused largely on financial transactions and is dominated by a handful of Big Tech vendors.”

The Data Wallet, Inrupt said, differs from alternatives by accepting a range of different data, and makes it easy for users to consent to access to their data. The company argued that the Data Wallet creates opportunities for organizations as the web pivots toward a “user-centric approach” to sharing, using and managing personal data.

“Browsers shaped the Web 1.0 era, and Web 2.0 was all about apps. But Web 3.0 is all about empowered individuals and personal data,” said Sir Tim Berners-Lee, co-founder of Inrupt and esteemed computer scientist.

(Berners-Lee is widely credited for inventing the World Wide Web, the first web browser, and the building blocks that allowed the internet to scale.)

“The Data Wallet becomes a fundamental tool for users,” he added. “By making this key piece of technology available, Inrupt is ensuring that the opportunities and benefits of secure personal Data Wallets are open for everyone.”

Inrupt’s argument that consumers are using digital wallets for more than just payments is backed up by PYMNTS Intelligence research, with the convenience of always having them at the ready providing a major factor in wider adoption.

Findings from the PYMNTS Intelligence/Google Wallet study “Digital Wallets Beyond Financial Transactions: A Global Perspective” show that a third of consumers say that always having a digital wallet with them increases their likelihood of using its access and verification capabilities in the future — a larger share than said the same of any other digital wallet advantage.

Meanwhile, 30% of consumers said the fact that these features come at no or low cost raises their likelihood of using them, while a similar share said the same of the high security for their money that digital wallets offer.

But even with this convenience, there remains a segment of doubtful consumers who are unlikely to be convinced to adopt these features.

“Despite the overall interest, the more challenging audience of skeptics will be tough to persuade, as nearly half say nothing could convince them to use a consolidated digital wallet under any circumstance,” the study noted.

The post Inrupt Debuts Data Wallet as Digital Wallet Use Grows appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Digital Wallets Beyond Financial Transactions: A Global Perspective,” created in collaboration with Google Wallet, drew from a survey of more than 12,000 consumers across the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, France and Germany. The study examined how consumers use their digital wallets beyond making payments and how they intend to use them in the future.

Here are three of the broad-stroke takeaways.

Young Bucks

Generation Z is leading the charge with digital wallets. The study found that 48% of consumers in this generation now carry a physical wallet with them all the time versus the nearly two-thirds of the population overall that does so. Conversely, 10% of Gen Z consumers rarely or never carry a physical wallet with them, a greater share than any other generation.

Additionally, the study noted that 27% of Gen Z individuals stored their access and payment credentials in their digital wallets in the last year. In contrast, for Generation X consumers, that share is just 17%.

“In this respect, these [younger] consumers can be seen as more likely to be digital pioneers for doing more than making payments with and storing information in digital wallets,” the study said.

Shopping Wins

Digital wallets are gaining traction for their features beyond making purchases, but for now, transactions remain the most common use of the technology. The study found that 41% of consumers said they would likely use digital wallets to carry out financial transactions in the next year, just ahead of the 40% that said the same of storing and accessing payment methods.

Meanwhile, 29% said they would use the technology for age or identity verification; 28% to store and access rewards, discounts or coupons; 25% to store and access event tickets; and 24% to store and access financial documents or information.

“Data suggests that familiarity with digital wallets is the key bridge to cross for engaging new users, and even a portion of those skeptical today could become the digital wallet users of tomorrow,” the study found.

The On-Hand Advantage

As consumers consider their future use of digital wallets’ functionality beyond transactions, the convenience of having them always at the ready proves a key factor. One in three consumers said always having a digital wallet with them boosts their likelihood of using its access and verification capabilities in the future — a greater share than said the same of any other digital wallet advantage.

Thirty percent of consumers, meanwhile, said the fact that these features come at no or low cost increases their likelihood of using them, and a similar share said the same of the high security for their money that digital wallets provide.

Still, even with this convenience, there remains a segment of doubtful consumers who are unlikely to be swayed to adopt these features.

“Despite the overall interest, the more challenging audience of skeptics will be tough to persuade, as nearly half say nothing could convince them to use a consolidated digital wallet under any circumstance,” the study noted.

The post Data: Consumers Are Using Digital Wallets for More Than Payments — Here’s How appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

A range of findings from PYMNTS Intelligence reports have illustrated just how pervasive the use of smartphones has become in buying all manner of everyday items.

The report “Mobile Wallets Gain Ground” found that when it comes to digital purchases, older generations, such as baby boomers and seniors, still prefer using computers for purchases instead of mobile devices.

But the pendulum swings the other way when it comes to younger consumers. Roughly a year ago, nearly 1 in 4 millennials and bridge millennials said they were shopping for non-grocery retail items on their phones.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Digital Bill Payments: Mobile Wallets Gain Popularity, but Hurdles Remain” found that 60% of consumers reported using mobile wallets to pay their bills in 2023, a 22% increase from the previous year.

Part of the appeal of using the digital, stored options lies in security, such as biometrics and tokenization. More than one-third of users said they see digital wallets replacing substantially all of the features of physical wallets, such as storing documents and other credentials.

There’s at least some cross-pollination in the works as mobile devices and wallets are used in everyday settings. For example, 59% of consumers who have used their mobile wallets to pay bills have also used a mobile app for bill pay.

In May, Visa introduced new products designed to make its mobile banking app even more widely used by consumers. The Visa Payment Passkey Service confirms a consumer’s identity and authorizes online payments with a facial or fingerprint scan. When shopping online, passkeys replace the need for passwords or one-time codes, enabling more streamlined, secure transactions.

Issuers will have several options for managing payment rules and preferences across different digital cards. At the end of 2023, Visa’s tap-to-pay service had a 65% reach globally, up two times the amount in 2019.

The Fed Underscores PYMNTS Intelligence Findings

PYMNTS Intelligence’s findings were corroborated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in its “Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice.” The central bank found that by late last year, 70% of U.S. consumers made a mobile payment at least once in the prior 12 months; 29% of payments made by U.S. consumers used a mobile device; and 27% of bills were paid using a mobile device. In 2018, just 8% of consumer payments were made via mobile.

The post Security Features Drive Digital Wallet Usage appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

By the Numbers

A PYMNTS Intelligence survey of 1,730 consumers in April who had purchased non-grocery retail items in last 30 days examined how consumers are paying for those items.

The study found that, at the start of 2022, PayPal was retail customers’ digital wallet of choice, and it was not even close. However, in the time since, Apple Pay has taken the lead. The Apple-owned digital wallet briefly surpassed the former favorite online payments system in the first quarter of last year before falling behind again. However, as of the first quarter of this year, Apple is ahead, and in the second quarter, that lead only continued to widen.

As of Q2, 12% of consumers had made their last retail purchase using a digital wallet. Roughly 6% had used Apple Pay, and 4% had used PayPal.

The Data in Context

Indeed, Apple is seeing adoption rise.

“There are some categories that are growing very fast, … because they are relatively smaller in the scheme of our services business, like cloud, video, payment services. Those all set all-time revenue records,” Apple CFO Luca Maestri told analysts on the company’s last earnings call.

The rise in Apple Pay usage comes as consumers make more mobile purchases overall.

“In 2021, I had 37 Apple Pay transactions; in 2022 I had 40. In 2023, I had 119 transactions — and so far in Jan and Feb of 2024, I have completed nearly half the number of all my 2023 transactions combined. My use of Apple Pay is exclusively in-app and, until this weekend, using my Apple Card,” PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote in a March feature. “The increase in use comes at the expense of PayPal and my bank account as funding sources — and as card on file at merchants I now shop using their app. … My increased use of Apple Pay reflects a shift in how and where I shop, which is increasingly using my phone/tablet and apps.”

The post Apple Pay Overtakes PayPal as Favored In-Store Mobile Wallet appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

Account holders could use the cards at a few local merchants, and the bank paid the merchants and billed the cardholders.

Then came the rise of bank-issued cards through the 1950s and 1960s. Debit cards sprang up in the 1960s.

But in 2024, closed-loop systems, embedded chips, a host of plastic cards in the wallet issued by several different banks, 16-digit numbers and CVVs to remember — well, it all seems so 20th century.

The movement toward digital channels, mobile devices, and the hypergrowth of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence are changing the very ways in which cards are created, distributed, personalized and used.

The spate of announcements from Visa this week introducing seven new payment products contained an offering that helps to further what might be termed the “reimagination” of the card.

The “one card” concept and execution — via the Flexible Credential — enables a single, digitally-issued card to “toggle” between debit, credit, pay-over-time options and cryptocurrency. One card, connected to multiple banking accounts, eliminates the clutter for consumers that results from segmenting and juggling various banks’ credit and debit cards as they conduct their daily financial lives.

Separately, Visa also announced the ability to add credit and debit cards to mobile wallets through a tap, and to use cards to authenticate identity.

Cards are nearly ubiquitous. But how they’re used varies depending on where you look. PYMNTS Intelligence found that Generation Z consumers, for instance, are the most likely to use credit products or services to better manage their spending and cash flow, at 54% — the highest share across all age demographics. Millennials come second at nearly 52%. About 41% of older consumers do so.

PYMNTS Intelligence data from the “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover” series underscored the digital wallet as a hub for cards, a digital means of moving money between accounts and paying bills. About 80% of consumers said they would use a digital wallet for a variety of functions.

In recent months, there has been a shift in card spending (with momentum in debit), as using debit cards as the underlying digital wallet payment method when buying groceries has doubled in the last year. The data showed, for example, that debit cards garnered a 55% share of digital wallet spending for groceries. Older, high-income consumers used credit cards for 42% of retail purchases.

Cards issued by national banks still hold the majority among consumers, at 68% of cards issued. As PYMNTS found at the end of last year, two-thirds of consumers who have a primary bank account at a regional bank use a credit card issued by a national bank as their primary option.

Visa and PYMNTS Intelligence’s dive into click-and-mortar shopping found that digital experiences across channels and a plethora of payment options are among the features most in demand with consumers. AI-fueled banking and payment experiences, along with personalized, card-linked offers, can help push the use of cards digitally and with mobile devices in hand.

The post From AI to Mobile Devices: Technology Reimagines Debit and Credit Cards appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

“What we found is that people want to use their home e-wallets when they travel abroad. So they don’t want to have to load their card into another app that they don’t know as well,” Douglas Feagin, senior vice president of Ant Group, said in a Monday (May 6) CNBC interview.

Launched in 2020, Alipay+ allows visitors to China to use apps from their home countries to make payments.

“We see a huge opportunity for expansion and the relatively broad coverage we have in Asia — we [would] like to replicate in places like the Middle East, Latam and Europe,” Feagin told CNBC. “People from all these regions are going to other regions, so a big opportunity to expand.”

Last week, the company launched a cross-border payments initiative aimed at boosting Hong Kong’s tourism and commerce sector.

The platform facilitates transactions for users of 14 overseas mobile wallets and bank apps from nine countries and regions, including Mongolia, Malaysia, Macau, Italy and Singapore, ensuring that these platforms, much like Alipay in mainland China, are now accepted by over 90% of local merchants in Hong Kong.

“By enabling users to conduct transactions through their preferred home apps, this integration aims to streamline payment processes, enhance operational efficiency, and elevate service standards in Hong Kong’s retail landscape,” PYMNTS wrote.

Alipay/Ant Group’s efforts are happening at a time an increasing number of consumers are embracing the use of digital wallets, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence study “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Can New Use Cases Drive Consumer Use of Digital Wallets?”

“The trend is particularly pronounced among Generation Z consumers, with nearly 80% regularly using digital wallets,” PYMNTS wrote last week.

This evolution is set to further improve connected travel experiences — a shift that resonates strongly with Gen Z travelers. This is the first generation to grow up in a digital-centric world, meaning that Gen Z individuals are accustomed to seamless digital experiences and value convenience and efficiency in all areas of their lives, travel included.

But it’s not just travel and payments that make digital wallets attractive for consumers. The study also found that consumers — especially younger ones — were intrigued by features that could make their lives easier, like the ability to store crucial documents such as driver’s licenses, passports and event tickets.

The post Alipay+ Looks to Expand as eWallet Use Grows appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

But the appeal of digital wallets — which include Apple Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal and others — doesn’t end with shopping. Digital wallets can also provide other features intended to make the lives of users easier, such as the ability to store important documents like driver’s licenses, passports and event tickets.

But as PYMNTS Intelligence found when researching “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Can New Use Cases Drive Consumer Use of Digital Wallets?” the enthusiasm around using digital wallets to store sensitive documents varies depending on who is asked.

While 51% of U.S. consumers, in general, said they are either somewhat interested or very interested in using digital wallet storage features, 78% of baby boomers and seniors have only a slight interest or no interest in keeping documents on their devices.

The excitement about using digital wallets to store documents climbs when younger consumers weigh in. Forty-nine percent of Generation Z respondents said they are extremely interested, as are 51% of millennials. Forty-six percent of bridge millennials and 26% of Generation X consumers are also extremely interested in using special digital wallet features.

To better understand these varying degrees of enthusiasm, it may help to look at which demographic groups in general use digital wallets.

The appetite people have for digital wallets mirrors — to some extent — their excitement about storing documents on their digital devices. Seventy-nine percent of Gen Z consumers are avid digital wallet users, as are 67% of millennials, followed by 62% of bridge millennials and 44% of Gen Xers. Meanwhile, only 28% of baby boomers and seniors use digital wallets.

But age is just one yardstick to judge digital wallet use. How much money people earn each year also appears to shape their interest in digital wallets.

Fifty-five percent of high-earning consumers (those making $100,000 or more annually) are digital wallet users. Fifty-one percent of middle-income consumers (those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 per year) use digital wallets. But excitement around digital wallets tapers off when low-income respondents (those earning $50,000 or less each year) are asked; only 41% of them are digital wallet users.

The post 55% of High-Earning Consumers and 79% of Gen Z Use Digital Wallets appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The platform facilitates transactions for users of 14 overseas mobile wallets and bank apps from nine countries and regions.

Among the eWallets and bank apps newly introduced to the city’s landscape are Hipay from Mongolia, Malaysia’s MyPB by Public Bank Berhad and Touch ’n Go eWallet, MPay from Macau SAR, Changi Pay and OCBC Digital from Singapore and Tinaba from Italy. This expansion ensures that these platforms, similar to Alipay in mainland China, are now accepted by over 90% of local merchants in Hong Kong.

By enabling users to conduct transactions through their preferred home apps, this integration aims to streamline payment processes, enhance operational efficiency, and elevate service standards in Hong Kong’s retail landscape.

Additionally, the integration of multiple international payment platforms and apps into the city’s digital wallet ecosystem translates into broader customer reach and increased revenue opportunities for merchants, enabling businesses in Hong Kong to cater to the needs and payment preferences of overseas visitors.

“When we pay like locals, we can travel and experience the culture like locals,” Venetia Lee, CEO of AlipayHK and Greater China General Manager of Ant International, said in a Friday (April 26) press release. “… This allows hassle-free payments, promotes the development of Hong Kong’s tourism industry, and helps local merchants enhance the effectiveness of their promotional activities through digital technology.”

In a similar vein, eSIM company eSIM Go has expanded its mobile data service by integrating Western Union’s digital wallets, providing coverage in over 150 countries via its “Powered by Breeze” offering.

The integration enables Western Union digital wallet customers in select European countries, including Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania, to access the solution from their digital banking apps, facilitating transactions in their preferred language and currency.

“Equipping digital wallet customers with global connectivity possibilities serves the dual purpose of traveling with ease and optimizing access to digital banking services from anywhere,” the company said in a March 26 news release. “Western Union eSIMs give customers hassle-free access to wallet-friendly data roaming, either to use on their next foreign trip or to effortlessly send to family and friends living abroad.”

These developments are occurring within the broader landscape of increased adoption of digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet and PayPal. Serving as secure repositories for credit and debit card information, digital wallets provide consumers with a convenient and contactless payment method, freeing them from the necessity of carrying physical cards during travel or shopping errands. Moreover, they enhance online shopping experiences by eliminating the need to input sensitive card data into websites and apps.

Given these advantages, digital wallets have garnered widespread popularity among consumers, as highlighted in PYMNTS Intelligence’s report, “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Can New Use Cases Drive Consumer Use of Digital Wallets?” The trend is particularly pronounced among Generation Z consumers, with nearly 80% regularly using digital wallets.

Looking ahead, the evolution of digital wallets is set to further revolutionize connected travel experiences — a shift that resonates strongly with Gen Z travelers. As the first generation to grow up in a digital-centric world, Gen Z individuals are accustomed to seamless digital experiences and value convenience and efficiency in all aspects of their lives, including travel.

Digital wallets offer a natural extension of their digital lifestyle, providing a streamlined solution for managing transactions on the go, whether it’s purchasing tickets for public transportation, dining at local eateries, or shopping for souvenirs on trips.

The post Digital Wallets Provide Local Touch to Connected Travel Experiences appeared first on PYMNTS.com.