The recent publication from Hamburg-based desk research company yStats.com titled “Global Online Payment Methods 2022” shares data on the online and mobile payments and trends worldwide. The publication reveals that the value of digital wallet transactions is projected to increase by 4.5 percentage points from 2022 to 2026.
While contactless and digital payment methods continue to rise, the share of cash payments in regions worldwide is forecasted to decline in 2025
According to findings in the new yStats.com report, the online payments industry worldwide continues to progress, initially driven by the increased digital payment adoption throughout the pandemic. Common payment methods remain mostly card-based, with debit and credit cards ranking among the most preferred payment methods when shopping online. With the increased shift towards contactless payments due to the pandemic, contactless card payments rose by almost 50% in 2021 alone. Another payment technology gaining momentum currently globally is digital wallets as more and more consumers are warming to the idea of adopting this digital payment form. Due to the growing use of digital wallets, online merchants are also adjusting their offered payment methods, with almost half of all E-Commerce companies already accepting digital wallets as payment and around one third planning to expand their digital wallet acceptance in the future. According to a survey referenced in the yStats.com report, all generations of consumers in Europe were found to make payments using card, mobile, and wearable devices, with only a small portion of surveyed consumers stating that they don’t use electronic payments, and in the U.S. more than one in two consumers opted for credit cards as their top digital payment method. Furthermore, in the Latin American and Asia-Pacific regions, non-cash payment methods, especially cards, are growing and the regions are getting closer to becoming cashless societies. In the Middle East & Africa, approximately two thirds of banking executives expect digital wallets to be among the most preferred payment methods of consumers in their respected markets in a few years.
The usage of BNPL services spreads across regions worldwide
In Australia, three quarters of individuals are aware of the option of using buy now, pay later services and nearly half of them had used BNPL. The most popular BNPL service provider in the country is Afterpay, followed by Zip, with two in three Australians being familiar with the former player and over half with the latter. In New Zealand, the BNPL services were used the most by younger generations, such as Millennials and Gen X, compared to older generations, such as Baby Boomers and Gen X, which prefer card payments. In the UK, the most used BNPL services in both 2020 and 2021 were “PayPal Credit”, “Klarna”, and “Clearpay”, and, in Mexico, the share of BNPL in B2C E-Commerce sales is projected to increase by 2 p.p. from 2021 to 2025. Most significantly, in North America, BNPL and digital/mobile wallets were the online payment methods projected to grow the most by 2024, with digital/mobile wallets also being the payment method forecasted see the greatest increase for in-person purchases post-pandemic.
