Nearly 40% of Consumers Store Health Insurance Cards in Digital Wallets

Digitally savvy consumers, particularly millennials, are finding mobile wallets to be an attractive and practical alternative to traditional physical wallets.

In “The Mobile Wallet Challenge: Replacing Physical With Digital,” PYMNTS Intelligence leverages insights from a survey of more than 2,000 individuals to examine consumers’ growing interest in using mobile wallets beyond making purchases in-store at the physical point of sale, including to manage their finances and store sensitive personal information.

Findings detailed in the study, done jointly by PYMNTS and ACI Worldwide, show that digital wallets have become an increasingly popular tool to store various types of documents, with event tickets and airline boarding passes being the most common types of documents, stored by 42% and 40% of consumers, respectively.

Additionally, while more than 30% of consumers have ID cards stored in their mobile wallets, 51% of millennials have done so, outpacing all generations. Moreover, millennials have four ID cards stored in their mobile wallets, surpassing the three cards stored by the average consumer.

When it comes to the types of ID cards stored in mobile wallets, health insurance cards are the most common among all consumers, at nearly 40%. This is followed by vaccine cards and auto insurance cards, stored by 36.4% and 35.8%, respectively.

However, there are notable differences among generations in their ID card storage preferences. Most millennials, for instance, prioritize health-related cards in their mobile wallets (47%), while 41% store auto insurance cards and 40% store identification cards.

On the other hand, baby boomers and seniors, along with Generation X consumers, are more likely to store travel tickets in their mobile wallets. In fact, approximately 48% of baby boomers and 45% of Gen X consumers store travel tickets, reflecting their preference for having travel-related information readily available.

The increasing popularity of storing documents in mobile wallets can be attributed to the benefits it offers consumers. First, it eliminates the need to carry physical cards, reducing the risk of loss or damage. Digital wallets also provide a secure and convenient way to access important identification information with just a few taps on a smartphone.

Additionally, mobile wallets enable consumers to easily organize and manage various information in one centralized location, eliminating the hassle of searching through wallets or purses to find a specific card when needed.

These benefits explain why, per the data, two in five consumers believe that mobile wallets can replace all parts of a physical wallet, with younger consumers more likely to hold this view.