TSYS: Mobile Payments May Be Poised for US Spike

April 23, 2024         By: Steven Anderson

While there are plenty of mobile payments options in the United States, it’s clear that many just aren’t that interested in putting them to work. Cash still works, and rather well, plus there’s the issue of both credit and debit cards, which have worked nicely for years. The mobile payment system has something of a decreased value in the face of so many working alternatives, but a new study from TSYS suggests a change may be afoot.

The TSYS study found that, out of 1,200 consumers polled, 68 percent had either already loaded a payment card into a mobile wallet system or were planning to do so. Moreover, the study noted that within two years, shoppers expected to make at least half of in-store purchases using a mobile wallet system.

That’s a great advance for mobile payments, but it’s important to note that expectations and plans don’t always translate into tangible action; just ask anyone whose New Year’s resolution was to lose weight. What’s better here, though, is that most of the mobile payments plans are firmly locked within young folks; those aged 25 – 34 were most likely to be interested in or already using mobile payments and mobile banking. The biggest determining factor is expected to be user experience, a point that most mobile payments providers have been focused on for some time, so this is likely good news.

Naturally, this report should be taken with a grain of salt as it’s projecting the future, but it’s not so outlandish. The resistance sectors of mobile payments were mainly the over-55 crowd, and that’s naturally falling off every day. With the 25-34 sector firmly in hand, and the 35-44 crowd taking at least some interest, that’s the bulk of disposable income users right there. Appealing to these users will be smart business, and ultimately should provide some noteworthy returns.

Only time will tell just what the future of mobile payments looks like—it has a way of doing that by becoming the present of mobile payments—but if these numbers bear out, it could be a good time ahead for the mobile payments market.