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Digital wallets were the top online payment method offered by payment decision-makers globally in 2020: new yStats.com report.

The recent publication from Hamburg-based desk research company yStats.com titled “Global Alternative Payment Methods 2021 Post COVID-19” shares data on the alternative payments and trends worldwide, including the state of the industry post-COVID-19. The publication reveals that despite being one of the leading alternative payment methods among digital wallet transactions, QR code payments are projected to decline between 2020 and 2025.

Credit/debit card payments dominate in most markets globally and the Buy Now Pay Later solution gained momentum after the COVID-19 onset.

Although credit and debit card payments dominated worldwide, some alternative options started gaining momentum after the crisis happened. Buy Now Pay Later was gradually accelerating in 2020 and, globally, 3 in 10 individuals used this option when making online payments, as of August 2020. Surveys indicate that consumers planned to increase the usage of BNPL even further. In the US, the percentage of those who were very likely to use this payment service rose by 12 percentage points between July 2020 and March 2021, and the most common reason for using this solution was the clarity of fees and interest rates. Among the top BNPL service providers worldwide are Afterpay, Zip Co, Klarna, PayPal Credit, Tabby and Tamara, witnessing increased usage and raising high investment funding amounts in 2020, as cited in the yStats.com report. The BNPL solution was more likely to be preferred by the younger generation, for example, in Australia, individuals of the 25-34 age group in May 2020 held the highest penetration rate of 18%. In addition, the BNPL service was mostly preferred to be used online rather than in-store, for example, in Germany, almost 60% of the surveyed in 2020 used BNPL online and 56% intend to use it online further.

Almost 70% of consumers in the world were more interested in cryptocurrency than a year ago

With the onset of COVID-19 and the changes occurring in the payment industry, businesses and consumers rapidly adopted alternative payments which had the benefits of being convenient, fast, contactless and accessible. Overall, traditional payments such as cash, credit/debit cards are still prevailing in the industry, but still, alternative payments including QR code, biometric checkout and cryptocurrency have a promising future. Among the alternative payments growing in acceptance with the onset of the pandemic is cryptocurrency. Nearly 70% of consumers worldwide were more open to using cryptocurrency than they did a year ago, according to a March 2021 survey cited by the new yStats.com report. In the US, the adoption rate was low, with slightly over 11% of its population using cryptocurrencies, but this was higher than the global average, which stood at 3% in 2020. In Turkey, the percentage of cryptocurrency owners was 16% in the first quarter of 2020. With regard to the payment service providers, PayPal was chosen as the most trusted digital payment platform to make investments in or purchases with the cryptocurrency of choice in the US, as of 2021.

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