Highlight. Digital wallets pay for 49% of global online purchases; projections indicate that will increase to 54% by 2026.
- U.S. consumers use digital wallets for 32% of online transactions; projections indicate that by 2026, that share will increase to 41%.
- PayPal is the most popular digital wallet among U.S. adults with a 71% penetration rate.
- Global consumers pay for 20% of online purchases with credit cards; projections indicate that value will decline to 16% by 2026.
- Americans use credit cards for 30% of online purchases; projections indicate a 23% decline by 2026.
- Global consumers use debit cards for 12% of online sales and direct transfer for 9% of sales.
Most Popular Online Payment Methods
Digital wallet is currently the most popular online payment method in the U.S. and worldwide.
- Globally, consumers are 145% more likely to use a digital wallet than any other form of online payment.
- According to projections, digital wallet use will increase 10.2% from 2022 to 2026.
- Digital wallet use increased 17.2% from 2019 to 2022.
- Credit card payments for worldwide online sales declined 4.76% from 2021 to 2022.
- North American consumers used credit cards for 31% of online purchases in 2021 and 2022.
- Global use of debit cards for online sales declined 7.69% from year-over-year (YoY).
- North American consumers used debit cards for 19% of 2022 online purchases down 9.52% year-over-year (YoY).
Most Popular Digital Wallet Statistics
Digital wallets first overtook credit cards as the most popular online payment method in 2022.
- 185 million American adults use PayPal; among them, 22% use the app daily.
- 114 million or 44% of American adults use Cash App.
- 65% of American adults use digital wallets on a monthly basis at least (or more often).
- At least 33% of digital wallet users make daily use of their digital wallet.
- Global online consumers spent an estimated $2.77 trillion using digital wallets in 2022.
- In the U.S., digital wallet payments for online purchases totaled an estimated $540 billion.
- U.S. PayPal users are the most likely to use other digital payment methods, such as Venmo (89% of PayPal users) or Apple Pay (88% of PayPal users).
- Apple Pay users are the least likely to use more than one digital payment app, such as PayPal (34% of Apple Pay users) or Venmo (49% of Apple Pay users).
- U.S. consumers are 3.23% more likely to use digital wallets than any other method of online payment.
- Online digital wallet use in North America increased 60% from 2018 to 2022.
- According to projections, digital wallet use in North America will increase 28.1% from 2022 to 2026.
- 22% of digital wallet users usually fund their digital wallet purchases with a credit card.
- In the U.S. 31% of users fund their digital wallets using a credit card; 33% use a debit card and 20% use a bank account.
Other Popular Online Payment Methods
Credit cards were the most popular online payment method in the U.S. until 2022; other popular methods include debit, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), Cash on Delivery (CoD), cryptocurrency, etc.
- Global use of BNPL increased 67% YoY while North American use increased 25%.
- 94.3% of online merchants accept Visa and Mastercard.
- 73.9% of online merchants accept PayPal.
- 67% of online merchants worldwide cite debit cards as the most-used payment method for fraudulent orders.
- 19% of purchases and person-to-person (P2P) payments in 2022 were online, up 5.56% YoY.
- 29% of P2P payments in 2021 were via digital wallet or mobile app, up 164% from 2019.
These data and insights were compiled by the Capital One Shopping team based on publicly available data.
Sources
- FIS Global, Global Payments Report
- Statista, Credit Cards Worldwide – Statistics and Facts
- Morning Consult, The State of Consumer Banking & Payments
- United States Census Bureau
- Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Publications