The latest research by ACI and YouGov has found that digital payments continue to be the payment method of choice for festive season spending, with 41% of consumers choosing it as their preferred payment method, Easy Cash (26%) and Debit And beyond credit cards. payment (23%). “Concerns over digital payment fraud have decreased, with 24% identifying it as a concern compared to 30% last year. Consistent with this trend, digital payments accounted for 33% of respondents, up from 24%. Considered to be the safest method. in 2020, and just behind cash-on-delivery (35%),” said a press release issued by ACI Worldwide.
The total sample size for the study was 1,001 adults and fieldwork was carried out between October 12 and October 15, 2021. The survey was done online. The figures are weighted and are representative of all Indian adults (aged 18+) in the following Tier 1 metro areas: Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Ankur Saxena, Country Leader, South Asia, ACI Worldwide, said, “While our research shows that consumers will continue to seek the convenience of online shopping, they also look forward to complementing it with in-store shopping experiences.” . “This highlights that merchants and payment providers will have to account for many different customer visits that transcend traditional channels. Omni-channel payments will emerge as a major focus for retailers.”
Here’s a look at more findings from the survey.
Payment behavior and spending patterns
- Overall, digital payments were the preferred payment method for 41% of the respondents, increasing to 50% in the 25-34 age group. The age group over 45 continued to divide their payment preferences almost equally between card payments and digital payments (35% and 33%, respectively).
- Roughly one-fifth (19%) used digital payments for purchases of Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 ($135–675) this festive season, up from 21% last year. Only 4% made purchases above Rs 50,000 ($675), the same as last year.
- 57% continue to use digital payments for groceries and essentials, the most common category for digital payment purchases. Nearly half of those surveyed used digital payments for apparel (48%) and electronics (47%) for other popular categories including home appliances (43%) and household goods (41%).
Consumer Concerns and Industry Opportunities for Digital Payments
- While concerns have fallen across the board, failed transactions remain a top concern for 41% of respondents, followed by data privacy (34%) and poor internet connectivity (30%). 14% have nothing to do with digital payments.
- 69% believe that digital payments offer greater financial transparency (better insight into how, when and what is spent) than other payment methods. Similarly, 69% think digital payments offer better promotions, incentives or cashbacks than other payment methods.