Nearly Half of Consumers Use Digital Wallets for Bill Payments Globally

Despite a global familiarity with digital wallets, how consumers are actually using them reveals a patchwork of preferences and nascent adoption beyond basic transactions.

A recent report titled “Digital Wallets Beyond Transactions: Global In-Depth Report,” produced by PYMNTS in collaboration with Google Wallet, surveyed over 12,000 consumers across Brazil, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States to uncover the current state and future potential of these digital tools.

The study found that while most consumers in these key markets are indeed familiar with digital wallets and report generally high satisfaction rates, the specifics of platform preference and usage vary significantly by country. For example, in the U.S., digital wallets are most commonly used for online shopping, contrasting with other markets where in-store purchases are more prevalent.

The report highlighted that familiarity with the top three digital wallets — Google Wallet, Apple Wallet, and Samsung Wallet — is widespread, though recognition levels differ across the studied nations.

The U.K. shows the highest rate of correctly identifying Google Wallet as a digital wallet, while France and Brazil have lower recognition rates. In terms of usage, Apple Wallet generally has a higher penetration across the five countries, but notably, Google Wallet leads in Brazil, where overall digital wallet usage is high. Satisfaction levels are also noteworthy, with Google Wallet users reporting the highest rates of being very or extremely satisfied.

Beyond payments, the report explored the adoption of digital wallets for digital verification and access, such as storing IDs, transportation passes and event tickets. While a portion of consumers store credentials digitally, a smaller percentage currently use the key digital wallets for this purpose, indicating significant room for growth in these non-transactional applications.

Here are three key data points from the report:

86% of consumers in the U.K. could correctly identify Google Wallet as a digital wallet, showcasing a higher level of understanding compared to France (57%) and Brazil (50%).

In the U.S., 74% of Google Wallet users primarily use wallet-stored cards for online shopping, a behavior that diverges from other studied markets where in-store usage is more common.

Only 2.6% of consumers across the five countries reported using Google Wallet, compared to 5.9% for Apple Wallet, indicating that while familiarity is high, overall usage of Google Wallet still lags behind its primary competitor.

Interestingly, across all five countries, a significant two-thirds of users have utilized Google Wallet for in-store purchases in the last year, a trend mirrored by users of Samsung Wallet (66%) and Apple Wallet (74%).

Paying bills also emerged as a popular use case, with 40% of all consumers having used any digital wallet for this purpose in the past year. When it comes to storing digital credentials, U.K. consumers showed the highest adoption rate within the top three wallets, at 30%.

The report suggests that as consumers become more comfortable with the capabilities beyond payments, and as providers enhance and promote these features, the adoption of digital wallets for a wider range of uses is likely to increase. The survey, conducted between Jan. 11, 2024, and Feb. 5, 2024, and involving 12,299 consumers, underscores the evolving landscape of digital wallet usage and the nuanced market dynamics at play.