Consumers Still Don’t Use, Trust Digital Wallets

If you’re waiting for digital wallets to truly become a mainstream form of payment, you might want to get comfortable.

That’s certainly one conclusion you can draw from comScore’s recent report – Digital Wallet Road Map 2013 – which highlights consumer awareness, usage, and resistance to digital wallets, and how they view the technology moving forward.

Through a survey of 2,283 online customers in the U.S., the study reveals that just 12 percent are aware of and use non-PayPal digital wallets on a regular basis, and 23 percent indicate they have no plans to do so in the future. What are some of the other most interesting digital wallet stats? We take a look in this PYMNTS.com Data Point.

Consumer Awareness

According to comScore, 72 percent of respondents were aware of PayPal’s digital wallet, with Google coming in a distant second with 41 percent. MasterCard’s PayPass wallet registered with just 13 percent of those surveyed, while Square Wallet and Visa’s V.me earned just 8 percent each. Isis still has a long way to go with a 6 percent awareness rate, while Lemon Wallet and LevelUp brought up the rear with 5 percent each.

Consumer Usage

Digital wallet usage stat mirrors consumer awareness, but it’s clear that many who know of digital wallets still don’t care to use them. Only 48 percent of consumers said they’d used PayPal’s wallet, while Google Wallet once again trailed behind at 8 percent. Square Wallet, V.me and LevelUp each registered 2 percent use, while Isis and Lemon Wallet saw just 1 percent usage each.

The Road Ahead

ComScore also broke down the numbers excluding PayPal – which has been around substantially longer than its competitors – and the picture that’s painted for digital wallets is one of a long road ahead. Only 51 percent of participants were aware of the remaining types of digital wallets, and only 12 percent of that group actively uses the platforms today. For the 88 percent of consumers who either knew about digital wallets and elected not to use them or were not privy to their existence, only 38 percent they’d likely adopt in the future, while 27 percent said they were unsure. A full 23 percent said they were flat out unlikely to use digital wallets.

Barrier To Adoption: Security Concerns

Only 29 percent of those surveyed said they had no concern over using a digital wallet to make a purchase: a startlingly low percentage for a technology considered by some to be on the threshold of mainstream adoption. Forty-seven percent cited security, safety, theft or loss of phone as the main reason they’re hesitant to use digital wallets. Nine percent indicated the wallet wasn’t useful enough to use, while 5 percent and 4 percent said there was not enough information or the digital wallet appeared difficult to understand, respectively. Two percent were worried about being charged a fee while another 2 percent cited privacy concerns.

To read more digital wallet statistics, view the complete comScore report here.