Outlook: stats on card use and the future of mobile

A flurry of recent surveys and studies have taken a discerning look at the payments industry and have released findings on mobile adoption and the future of cards.

A recent Bankrate survey revealed that 40% of consumers carry less than $20 in cash in their wallets. And card use is on the rise; according to Credit-land.com, credit, debit and prepaid cards saw a jump of nearly 8% between 2013-2014.

While cards, already in the wallets of 1.2 billion Americans continue their steady advance, mobile payments are experiencing a huge jump. Today, mobile payments are primarily used for smaller purchases, with consumers still reaching for a card to complete big-ticket sales, but that is likely to change as mobile continues its march into the mainstream. Statista.com reports that mobile payments were $450 billion in 2015 and are expected to reach $1 trillion by 2019. Digital Wallets and Mobile Payment platforms offer opportunities to integrate marketing and loyalty programs with sales. Location based interactions provide tailor made customer experiences. And, layering multiple levels of protection and employing an array of security technologies, mobile payments are strengthening electronic payments and making the digital wallet more appealing than ever before.

A hurdle to the mobile migration has been the limited availability of NFC enabled merchant terminals, however, Berg Insights reports over 9 million NFC-capable terminals are now in use in the U.S., a 33% increase from 2013. And, the pace of acceptance is expected to accelerate with more merchants activating EMV POS terminals with NFC capabilities.

As these surveys illustrate, payments are on the move, expanding and innovating to meet evolving merchant needs and to match consumer preference and expectations.