Credit Unions Report Growth in Mobile Payment Channel

A new survey of credit union executives by CO-OP Financial Services, a technology partner for credit unions, and ETA member Mastercard, has found growth for credit union debit card use via mobile payments.

A total of 55 percent of survey respondents have experienced increases in the number of debit cards enrolled in a mobile wallet like Apple Pay and Google Pay, the survey found. Similarly, 53 percent of respondents have experienced transaction volume increases coming from the mobile wallet channel.

Only one percent of respondents indicated that debit card enrollment has decreased, and zero survey participants saw a decrease in transaction volume, according to the report.

Like consumer usage, credit union participation in mobile payment solutions is set to grow as well. Though over half of survey participants reported they offer a mobile wallet solution, an additional 10 percent indicated they are in the implementation phase. Apple Pay was the most popular among the survey respondents, with 51 percent of respondents offering the mobile wallet.

Credit union executives expressed their belief that the growing presence of payments FinTechs that operate on a mobile-first model like Square and PayPal will have an effect on the use of debit cards. When asked for the expected impact of FinTechs and presented with a scale of 1-5, in which a 1 represented “not at all” and a 5 represented “very significant,” only nine percent of respondents selected a 1 or 2. Sixty-one percent selected a 4 or 5, and of that 61 percent, one third selected “very significant.”

The study was conducted over three weeks by Mercator Research, surveying over 200 US credit union executives, debit card product managers, and other employees who contribute to decisions made regarding the management of their respective credit union’s debit card portfolios, the report said. Click here to view the full report.