Mobile wallet usage spikes

Wallets are definitely getting lighter this holiday season, especially as more shoppers use mobile wallets.



Nearly one quarter of consumers (24.2%) currently use mobile wallets, and 48.5% plan to make a gift purchase with their digital wallet this holiday season. Further, more than two thirds (69.6%) of wallet users indicated they would use their mobile wallets even more if more merchants allowed them to pay that way.



These details were shared in the “Capital One Wallet Survey,” a study that tapped more than 1,800 people between Nov. 3-14, 2016.



Adoption of mobile wallets is so rapid that 63% of these shoppers have been using the technology for less than one year, and they continue to expand their retail usage. Nearly half (49.2%) of mobile wallet users use their mobile wallets at retail stores, specifically, at grocery stores (41%), fast food restaurants (36.8%), drug stores (25.7%), and for travel related purchases (26.6%), the study revealed.



Of course, the technology is not perfect. More than half (54.0%) of mobile wallet users are concerned about credit card fraud, and more than 43% of mobile wallet users have at one point or another had a charge come through that either surprised them, or was for the wrong amount.



Overall however, mobile wallets are gaining traction. “Having card information and payment capabilities directly via a mobile device, rather than a plastic credit card, is surging in popularity, making life easier and less stressful for consumers from coast to coast, just in time for the busy holiday shopping season,” the study said.