“Although a majority of U.S. adults (74%) opt for direct deposit when receiving tax refunds, more Millennials (17%) and Gen Xers (17%) prefer to receive a check in the mail compared with Baby Boomers (14%), per new research from ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions. When it comes to paying potential taxes owed, digital methods such as debit, credit and electronic funds withdrawal are most popular (50%), while only 32 percent prefer non-digital methods (cash or check), based on the survey data from 1,215 taxpayers.”

“Although a majority of U.S. adults (74%) opt for direct deposit when receiving tax refunds, more Millennials (17%) and Gen Xers (17%) prefer to receive a check in the mail compared with Baby Boomers (14%), per new research from ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions. When it comes to paying potential taxes owed, digital methods such as debit, credit and electronic funds withdrawal are most popular (50%), while only 32 percent prefer non-digital methods (cash or check), based on the survey data from 1,215 taxpayers.”

“More than three-fourths (76%) of bank respondents said they fear new payment and money transfer platforms, like ApplePay, PayPal, Stripe, and Venmo, more than any other type of fintech competitor. Half expressed a high level of fear. Bankers were split on whether they should fear specialty lenders like Earnest, Kabbage, and Quicken Loans/Rocket Mortgage, with 47% expressing mid or high levels of fear and an equal number signaling a low level of fear.”

“Financial services technology leader FIS ™ (NYSE: FIS) today released its Worldpay from FIS 2020 Global Payments Report, a comprehensive analysis and forecast of consumer payment trends in 40 countries around the world. The report predicts that digital wallets will represent half of global eCommerce sales by 2023, while “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) methods emerge as the fastest-growing online payment preference over the next five years.”

“Total credit-card balances increased by $46 billion to $930 billion, well above the previous peak seen before the 2008 financial crisis, according to data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Tuesday.  Some cardholders, particularly younger ones, are running into trouble. The proportion of credit-card debt in serious delinquency, meaning payments were late by 90 days or more, rose to 5.32% in the fourth quarter, the highest level in almost eight years, from 5.16% in the third quarter.”

“Revolving credit, like credit cards, jumped 14% in December. This is the fastest pace of growth since April 1998. Nonrevolving credit, typically auto and student loans, rose 3.7%. For all of 2019, credit card debt was up at a 4.2% pace while nonrevolving credit was up at a 4.8% pace. The data don’t include mortgage loans.”

“A multinational consumer survey from digital financial technology provider Wirecard reveals that large percentages of respondents have interest in using emerging technologies to streamline a variety of in-store shopping activities. Seven in 10 (71%) are somewhat or very interested in a self-checkout app. And 65% are somewhat or very interested in a smart mirror that would allow them to view additional products, request other items and purchase goods without a checkout.”

“Digital payments have had a huge impact on the global payments industry traditionally dominated by cash, credit cards , debit cards, and prepaid cards. The surge of smart devices and a growing eCommerce market has led to the rapid adoption of digital payments, in both developed and emerging countries. According to data gathered by LearnBonds.com, the worldwide digital payments market will jump to a record $4.7trn transaction value this year, with a 15.3% year-over-year growth rate. This rising trend is set to continue in the following years, with the entire market reaching $6.7trn by 2023.”

“The automation study, carried out by fintech firm Avaloq , also found that increased used of open and collaborative platforms (34%) and more distributed ledger technologies and cryptocurrencies (26%) could play a major role in financial services going forward. As for what is aiding digital transformation in financial services currently, participants cited compliance under updating regulations (48%), improved customer experiences (46%) and improved cyber security (42%) as frequent drivers of improved performance.”

“More than 1,400 EU-based firms have applied for permission to operate in the UK after Brexit, with over 1,000 of these planning to establish their first UK office, according to a Freedom of Information request (FOI) by Bovill. The FOI provides evidence that London and the UK will continue to be a leading player on the global financial stage after Brexit…EY consultants state that large UK-based firms had now implemented plans enabling them to continue operating in the EU after Brexit, according to Reuters. It maintained its estimate that around 7,000 positions would be relocated from London to the continent and a further 2,400 jobs created and hired for locally at the new EU hubs.”

“Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp reported $119.1 billion in merchant volume versus $107.8 billion in 2018’s fourth quarter. Transactions totaled 1.69 billion, up 13.8% from 1.49 billion a year earlier. That generated $409 million in non-interest income, a 5.1% increase. The revenue growth was “driven by higher sales volumes and merchant fees,” U.S. Bancorp said in its earnings report….BofA reported Wednesday that its customers sent and received 95 million payments via Zelle in the fourth quarter, up 86% from 51.1 million in year-earlier period. Payment value totaled $23.8 billion, up 76%. BofA says it has 9.7 million active Zelle users.”

“Consumers downloaded a record 204 billion apps in 2019, up 6% from 2018 and up 45% since 2016, and spent $120 billion on apps, subscriptions and other in-app spending in the past year. The average mobile user, meanwhile, is spending 3.7 hours per day using apps. This data and more comes from App Annie’s annual report, “State of Mobile,” which highlights the biggest app trends for the past year, and sets forecasts for the years ahead.”

“Ingenico Group and Freedom Pay unveiled research this week that found that despite the fact that more than half of shoppers reported encountering a technical problem during a mobile checkout experience, about three-fourths still believed contactless payments were a good option for shopping or engaging in a loyalty program.  The study, conducted by Hanover Research, revealed that age is a huge factor in accepting contactless payments as 70% of Gen Z consumers and 74% of millennials reported satisfaction with using contactless.”

“Mobile wallet adoption is on the rise and can generate nearly $190 billion in transaction value in the U.S. by 20211, but there is still a disconnect between digital payments and in-store point of sale,” said Roche. “We have seen incredible success stories in other markets like Asia, and the global share of mobile wallet market size is projected to reach almost $3 trillion by 20222. U.S. retailers have a huge chance for engagement and for driving greater footfall in their stores by leveraging omnichannel payments experiences and better acknowledging the digital shopper. I look forward to exploring this opportunity gap with NRF attendees.”

“Holiday digital spending jumped 8% compared to the rest of 2019, reaching $723 billion worldwide, according to data from Salesforce . Mobile once again was the top channel, accounting for as much as 80% of digital traffic and 65% of digital orders on peak shopping days. Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) was also a big winner, particularly toward the end of the season. Retailers that offered this service saw 56% more active digital users (shoppers who used a site search, added a product to a cart, and started to check out or completed their transaction) during the final five days of the season. These retailers also collected 18% more digital revenue after reaching their shipping cutoff dates.”

The 2019 Federal Reserve Payments Study (FRPS), seventh in a series of triennial studies, found accelerating growth overall in core noncash payments (ACH, cards, checks) from 2015 to 2018 compared to the previous three-years.

The study also found that

• Debit and credit card payments grew 8.9 percent per year between 2015 and 2018.
• The value of remote general-purpose card payments in 2018 nearly equaled that of in-person payments.
• Over half of in-person general-purpose card payments were chip authenticated in 2018, up from 2.0 percent in 2015.
• ACH payments grew 6.0 percent per year between 2015 and 2018.
• Check payments fell 7.2 percent per year from 2015 to 2018.