Digital Consumer Payment Trends in the US

Report Overview

Digital Consumer Payment Trends in the U.S.

This publication combines Packaged Facts’ report Digital Consumer Payment Trends in the U.S. with a supplemental report Consumer Payment Card Usage Trends in the U.S.

Digital Consumer Payment Trends in the U.S. – report 1

Already in growth mode, digital consumer payments are now in hyperdrive, driven by a pandemic that has shifted consumer shopping and purchasing much further into the digital realm. This shift, however, also benefits from broader macro trends: Riding mobile banking tailwinds, mobile payment accounts have become mainstream choices, and fintech innovation is quickly pushing open banking, neobanks, and point-of-sale installment loans forward. Meanwhile, the faster payments opportunity beckons—and mobile banking may enable consumers to realize the benefits of faster payments most fully. In the process, the act of making a payment is fading into the background, integrating itself seamlessly into the customer purchase experience.

This report unravels trends and innovations that are reshaping digital consumer payments in real time, by reviewing key Consumer Digital Payment Drivers, assessing trends driving faster, seamless payments, and analyzing the influence COVID-19 is having on the digital consumer payments space.

Consumer Payment Card Usage Trends in the U.S. – report 2

As part of this market research study, a second Packaged Facts report Consumer Payment Card Usage Trends in the U.S. is included. This report provides a compact overview of continuity and changes in U.S. adult use of the following types of consumer payment cards:

• Debit cards
• Credit cards
• Gift cards
• Prepaid cards

What's in This Report?

This report assesses trends shaping consumer digital payments, with a focus on emerging but quickly growing digital payment trends and innovations, digitally driven market drivers, and COVID-19 digital payment ramifications.

No matter how you slice it, e-commerce continues to comprise a greater share of retail sales. E-commerce comprised 11% of retail sales in 2019, up from 7.3% in 2015. From 2015 to 2019, e-commerce sales grew at a 14.6% average annual rate, some four times higher than overall retail sales.

At a time when access to physical locations has been significantly curtailed—and many consumers likely seek to avoid direct contact at the physical point-of-sale anyway—consumers seeking to engage in commerce or pay bills are forced to go online. This trend is underscored by comparing retail sales data for Q2 2020 against that for Q2 2019: E-commerce sales grew 44%, against a 3.4% total retail sales decline.

Pandemic or not, the shift away from paper-based payment methods and toward card- and ACH-based electronic payments methods continues in full force.