Mobile wallets poised for growth

First Annapolis Consulting has conducted a study on mobile banking and payments, tracking consumer adoption of mobile payments.  The “Study of Mobile Banking & Payments: Mobile Wallets Report” bases its results from a January 2017 survey of 1,514 US consumers, age 18 and over, who have a smartphone and a banking relationship.

Trends include:

Adoption of mobile payments and mobile wallets is mass-market.

• Though mobile payments and wallets adoption is highest among Millennials, a booming 85% of respondents under 35 years of age and some 36% over 65 made payments in the past 12 months.
• Reasons non-users named were consistent across the board, namely (i) concerns about security and (ii) lack of a compelling reason to use mobile payments

Adoption levels have plateaued.

• Adoption of mobile payments drastically increased over the past 18 months, however hit a plateau over the past six months.
• This plateau was consistent across all mobile payments categories. Bill payment continues to have the highest penetration, pursued by in-app/online purchases.
• A similar trend in the user base of Apple Pay was also observed.

Usage is increasing.

• Though Apple Pay’s user baser has stabilized, the number of people who use Apple Pay at least once a week continues to increase. Nearly one-third of Apple Pay customers now use it weekly or even daily.
• 43% of Apply Pay users noted they use Apply Pay more often now than when they first enrolled, mainly because of increased acceptance. A low 15% noted they use it less often than before.
• Similar trends were discovered for Android Pay and Samsung Pay. User satisfaction levels are consistently high across all three payments providers.

Consumers want bank solutions.

• The three Pays are the most frequently cited mobile wallet, followed by merchant-specific wallets, such as Starbucks (being the most popular). Many users use these supplement to their Pays wallets to earn additional rewards.
• Most respondents, who have or are interested in using a mobile wallet say they would prefer to have one payment solution, not multiple. Nearly half of these respondents, 48%, pointed out they want to get it from their bank.

Outlook

Growth may be slower than anticipated, but mobile payments and mobile wallets are poised for growth.

1. There is a steady increase in consumer use and satisfaction levels remain high.
2. EMV migration continues to bolster mobile point of sale payments.
3. Adoption and usage among younger consumers is high. Growth will result naturally as generations age and mature.

Get the complete survey here.