In February 2015, a periodic survey was fielded to bank and credit union shoppers on FindABetterBank.com to get a sense for how frequently smartphone owners use their devices to pay for purchases at stores, send money to friends and family, and pay their bills. Since the last time this same survey was fielded (January 2014), mobile payments has grown at a breakneck pace.
Almost half of smartphone users have paid a bill on their mobile device. In February 2015, 46% of smartphone owners reported that they’ve used their mobile phone to pay for bills in the past 30 days. While most of these respondents admit that they visit the biller’s site to pay a bill from their mobile phone, over 40% say that they’ve used their bank or credit unions mobile application to pay a bill in the past 30 days.
More consumers use their bank’s application to pay friends and family. Since last January, mobile P2P usage increased from 13% to 16% among smartphone owners – 23% growth in just over one year. With a number of peer-to-peer payment options including Venmo and Google Wallet, most consumers who made a P2P purchase in the last 30 days say they used their bank or credit union’s mobile application. This is good news for the banking industry — a sign that consumers are receptive to the full range of payment options smartphones afford.
Mobile POS has increased with the help of new technology. The number of consumers who have used their smartphone to pay for goods and services at retailers has increased from 21% to 27% since last year – a growth rate of 29%. Over the past year, mobile payments have gotten a lot of visibility with the introduction of the Apple 6 and Apple Pay, and many more retailers have upgraded their POS systems to accept mobile payments accordingly.