Discounts and Protection Could Shift How Digital Bank Customers Pay

Digital bank customers are not just more comfortable with new payment experiences. With the right incentives, they also appear more willing than other consumers to move much of their spending to a different payment method.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Pay by Bank Deep Dive: Digital Bank Users Are Ready to Switch,” conducted with Trustly, found in January that discounts and buyer protection increase the share of transactions consumers said they would move to direct-from-bank payments. Digital bank users stood out across every category measured, from retail and groceries to bills and account-to-account transfers. These customers already rely on digital wallets and are accustomed to login-based payment experiences.

Digital bank users show the highest switching potential. With discounts and buyer protection, they would shift an estimated 35.4% of A2A transfers, compared with 25.3% across the full sample. The gap also appeared in bill payments, at 32% versus 22%, and retail purchases, at 22.3% versus 15.4%. The report revealed that digital bank users’ switching potential is 30% to 50% higher than the population average when both incentives are offered.

Digital wallets already have a strong foothold. The report showed that 45% of digital bank users prefer digital wallets as a payment method, versus 22.7% of consumers overall. Wallets also led among these users for retail, subscriptions, rideshare and A2A payments. That existing behavior lowers the familiarity barrier for a payment flow built around logging in and authorizing a transaction rather than presenting a card.

Cash benefits and protection were the main levers. Among digital bank users, 43% cited immediate cash benefits as the most important reason to use the payment method, while roughly one-quarter said nothing would make them more interested. The report found the same broad incentive pattern across bank types, suggesting that rewards and buyer protection matter more than whether the customer banks digitally or with a traditional institution.

The opportunity is still conditional. Only 12% of bank customers said they see the method as a substitute for debit, but 72% said they either already do or would if rewards, buyer protection or both were offered. That leaves adoption tied less to awareness alone than to whether providers can make the economics and protections feel competitive with the payment methods consumers already use.

The findings pointed to digital bank users as a practical early-adopter segment rather than a separate market. Their willingness to move more transactions was stronger, but the incentives they want were broadly the same as everyone else’s, including a tangible financial benefit, confidence that purchases are protected and an experience that does not add friction.

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