Page 16 - GS191201

Views

Insider’s report

on payments

Mobile payments made great strides in 2019

By Patti Murphy Meanwhile, a new report from eMarketer predicted mobile
ProScribes Inc. payments in the United States will total nearly $310 billion
in 2019, a whopping 41 percent increase over 2018 totals.
s 2019 draws to a close and we look to what's Next year the growth rate will slow to just 28 percent, with
in store for 2020, mobile payments appear to be mobile payments topping $396 billion, according to eMar-
hitting their stride, with notable gains in terms keter.
A of both the number of consumers using and
number of mobile payments made. Both companies' data reflects the use of mobiles to initiate
person-to-person payments as well as payments for prod-
ucts and services. eMarketer reported especially significant
A new report from Mercator Advisory Group – Mobile growth in U.S. users of P2P payments, with an estimated
Payments: Making a Comeback – revealed that 60 percent of 69.2 million users (about 29 percent of total smartphone us-
consumers used some form of mobile payment in 2019, a ers) this year rising to 73.8 million next year.
whopping 25 percent increase over 2018, when fewer than
five in 10 consumers (48 percent) made mobile payments. Venmo, which is owned by PayPal, saw total payment vol-
ume increase by 70 percent to 24 billion transactions in the
Much of the growth is being driven by online service pro- second quarter, compared to the same quarter in 2018. Pay-
viders with built-in payments, like Uber and Airbnb, Mer- Pal is projecting a total of $100 billion in Venmo payments
cator's research indicated. The use of conversational inter- this year. Zelle reported it handled 171 million transactions
faces remains relatively low. Just 22 percent use this feature totaling $44 billion in this year's second quarter, which
on their smartphones, and 12 percent use smart speakers represented 71 percent increase in transaction volume and
(like Alexa) to initiate payments. 56 percent increase in the total value of payments moved
across the network compared to 2018.
Mobile has become a major part of the American consumer
shopping experience, Mercator reported, with 60 percent Putting data into perspective
of adults either browsing or shopping using a mobile de-
vice in 2019. Not surprisingly, mobile shopping popularity When I first read about the Mercator and eMarketer re-
skews toward younger consumers. For example, 57 percent ports, I was skeptical. Then I opened my monthly Venmo
of consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 have purchased transaction statement and realized how many times I had
products or services using their smartphones compared to sent money through that platform the previous month.
just 19 percent of those 65 and older. Mercator's findings So, OK, when you count P2P payments initiated through
are based on a survey of 3,000 adults conducted in June. smartphone apps, mobile adoption is picking up.

"There was a lot of hype around the release of mobile wal- But in terms of sheer numbers, the transaction totals pale in
lets a few years ago, and once people started using them, comparison to overall debit and credit card usage (of which
they may have encountered spotty acceptance of mobile these numbers are technically a subset). By most accounts,
payments and app difficulties and stopped using them," Americans made payments totaling more than $7 trillion
said Peter Reville, director of primary data services at Mer- last year using credit, debit and prepaid cards. If that total
cator. "We are seeing a resurgence of usage in 2019 with remains stagnant for 2019 (not likely) mobile payments (for
increased acceptance at the point of sale, increased online P2P and purchase transactions, combined) will account for
usage and increased consumer comfort." just a 4.4 percent slice of the payments pie.

16