‘Cost-of-living crisis’ Triggers Fresh Changes in Consumer Payment Habits, According to Paysafe Research
June 29 2022 - 4:00AM
Business Wire
44% of consumers have changed their online
payment habits, with a focus on tracking spending more accurately
and avoiding buying on credit
As inflation rates rise across the globe, the resulting
‘cost-of-living crisis’ is forcing changes in consumer payment
habits – with a particular focus on methods that help track
spending. That’s according to new research* commissioned by leading
specialised payments platform, Paysafe (NYSE: PSFE), surveying
11,000 consumers across Europe, North America and Latin America for
the company’s ‘Lost in Transaction’ report, Consumer payment trends 2022: Navigating online payments
in the age of uncertainty.
Nearly half of (44%) respondents have changed their payment
habits in response to the rising cost of living, 40% of whom are
shifting towards methods that enable them to track spending more
accurately and almost a quarter (21%) avoiding buying on
credit**.
Of those who changed their payments habits **, 53% are using
debit cards more often than a year ago, representing the biggest
jump for the most popular online payment method. This is true even
in countries where credit cards are more popular, e.g., in Canada
where credit cards remain the number one payment type, but debit
cards are being used more often than a year ago by 49% of
respondents.
Apart from those avoiding buying on credit, credit cards still
have appeal - 42% of respondents who have changed their habits are
using credit cards more (and 51% of all respondents have used them
in the last month) – mostly for high-value purchases.
Interestingly, credit card usage has spiked in the traditionally
debt-averse DACH region where 46% of Austrian respondents and 39%
of German respondents are using them more frequently.
Thanks perhaps to their money management features, digital
wallets have also become popular with those who have changed their
payment habits because of the rise in cost of living. Two fifths
(41%) of such respondents are using them more than they did a year
ago.
While debit cards, credit cards and digital wallets remain the
most popular payment methods, cash is also seeing a resurgence,
particularly online. Cash usage dipped in 2020 due to the pandemic,
but fast forward to 2022 and while 52% said they’re using it less
for in-person transactions, 70% said they'd be worried if they
could no longer access cash, and 59% still think it is the most
reliable form of payment. 47% of respondents told us they would
prefer to pay for online purchases in cash if it were easy, and 44%
would buy online more often if they could pay in cash. Overall, 13%
are using eCash more often than they were 12 months ago (three
times on average in the previous month) – increasing to 26% of
those who changed their habits due to the cost-of-living
crisis.
Chirag Patel, CEO of Paysafe’s Digital Wallets division,
comments, “With fuel and food prices at an all-time high, our
findings clearly show households globally are changing their
payment methods to keep a closer eye on how much they’re spending.
While the use of many traditional payment types is on the rise,
we’re also seeing a spike in alternative methods such as digital
wallets and a shift to eCash. To support consumers during this
time, and grow customer loyalty, merchants should focus on offering
a broad range of payment methods that reflect consumers’ wish for
greater control and flexibility. For this to be possible, it’s
important to work with the right payments provider which supports a
broad range of options to ensure they are set up to cater to
changing needs at this time of uncertainty and provide consumers
with as much choice as they can.”
For additional key takeaways from the research, as well as
further analysis, download the full report Lost in Transaction: Consumer payment trends 2022:
Navigating online payments in the age of uncertainty.
Note for editors *The research, which was conducted on
behalf of Paysafe by Sapio Research in April 2022 and covers the
U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Peru, Chile
and Brazil, explored changing consumer payment preferences and
behaviours. **Unless otherwise specified all data points about
increased/decreased payment method usage relate to respondents
whose habits have changed due to the increase in cost of
living.
About Paysafe Limited Paysafe Limited (“Paysafe”) (NYSE:
PSFE) (PSFE.WS) is a leading specialised payments platform. Its
core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and
transact seamlessly through industry-leading capabilities in
payment processing, digital wallet, and online cash solutions. With
over 20 years of online payment experience, an annualised
transactional volume of over US $120 billion in 2021, and
approximately 3,500 employees located in 10+ countries, Paysafe
connects businesses and consumers across 100 payment types in over
40 currencies around the world. Delivered through an integrated
platform, Paysafe solutions are geared toward mobile-initiated
transactions, real-time analytics and the convergence between
brick-and-mortar and online payments. Further information is
available at www.paysafe.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628006138/en/
Anna Birdsall-Strong, VP Communications, Europe, Paysafe
anna.strong@paysafe.com Phone: +442038908975
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