“Global Alternative Payment Methods: First Half 2017” is a new publication from Germany-based secondary market research firm yStats.com, specialized in business intelligence on E-Commerce and online payment markets worldwide. According to the findings in this report, alternative payment methods rank high in online shoppers’ preferences and contribute to the growth of online retail, especially in emerging markets.
Although credit card still leads the ranking of the top 5 payment methods used by online shoppers worldwide, as of early 2017, alternative payments have a strong foothold in various advanced and emerging B2C E-Commerce markets. The top alternative payment methods used by global online shoppers include E-Wallets such as PayPal and Alipay, cash on delivery and bank transfer. In selected European markets, such as Austria, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland, payment by invoice also plays a major role, as the yStats.com reveals.
Payment method rankings for 30 countries cited in this report by yStats.com reveal that online shoppers in emerging markets are especially open to using payment methods other than bank cards. For instance, in Southeast Asian countries, cash on delivery and bank transfers are preferred by online shoppers over credit card payments, with a notable exception of Singapore. In the Middle East, consumers would also rather pay for digital purchases in cash, while in Kenya’s E-Commerce, mobile money service M-Pesa is almost as popular as cash on delivery.
Even among countries where online credit card payments are leading, there are examples of significant readiness to adopt alternative methods. In the UK, Europe’s largest online retail market, close to one-half of online shoppers prefer to pay by PayPal, according to a recent survey cited by yStats.com, though the combined share of debit and credit cards was still higher. Among emerging economies, the top example for this trend is Brazil, where the local payment method Boleto Bancario is the main rival of credit card installments, especially among consumers who are unwilling to provide their credit card details on the Internet. Furthermore, inability to make payments online was the fourth most popular reason given by global Internet users for not shopping online, highlighting the importance of alternative payment methods in driving the growth of E-Commerce worldwide.
