Highlights. Apple Pay and Google Pay are the most popular digital wallets worldwide, with a 17% combined share of global online payments.
- North American consumers use digital wallets to pay for 39% of online purchases.
- Global consumers pay for 20% of online purchases with credit cards.
- 30% of online payments worldwide are made via card (i.e. debit or credit).
- PayPal is the most popular digital wallet among U.S. adults with a 71% penetration rate.
Most Popular Online Payment Methods
Digital wallet is currently the most popular online payment method in the U.S. and worldwide.
- U.S. consumers use digital wallets for 40% of online transactions.
- Projections indicate that by 2030, 44% of online transactions in the U.S. will be via digital wallet.
- Digital wallets pay for 56% of global online purchases.
- By 2030, 63% of online purchases worldwide will be digital wallet pay.
- Globally, consumers are 180% more likely to use a digital wallet than any other form of online payment.
- According to projections, digital wallet use will increase 12.5% from 2025 to 2030.
- Digital wallet use increased 34.0% from 2019 to 2025.
- Credit card payments for worldwide online sales declined 9.09% from 2023 to 2025.
- North American consumers used credit cards for 33% of 2025 online purchases, down 3.13% year-over-year (YoY).
- Global consumers used debit cards for 10% of online purchases in 2025.
- North American consumers used debit for 15% of 2025 online purchases, down 16.7% YoY.
Most Popular Digital Wallet Statistics
Digital wallets first overtook credit cards as the most popular online payment method in 2022.
- 186 million American adults use PayPal; among them, 22% use the app daily.
- 115 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 $4.26 trillion using digital wallets in 2025.
- In the U.S., digital wallet payments for online purchases totaled an estimated $1.0 trillion.
- 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 25% more likely to use digital wallets than any other method of online payment.
- Online digital wallet use in North America increased 160% from 2014 to 2025.
- According to projections, digital wallet use in North America will increase 12.8% from 2025 to 2030.
- 23% of digital wallet users usually fund their digital wallet purchases with a credit card.
- In the U.S. 40% of users fund their digital wallets using a credit card while 25% use a debit card.
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.
- Americans use credit cards for 32% of online purchases.
- By 2030, Americans will use credit cards for 22% of online purchases.
- Projections indicate that by 2030, global consumers will pay for 16% of online purchases with credit cards, down 20% from 2025.
- Global consumers use debit cards for 10% of online sales.
- 7% of online sales worldwide are direct transfer payments.
- From 2024 to 2025, global use of BNPL decreased 20% YoY while North American use remained the same.
- 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.
- 23% of purchases and person-to-person (P2P) payments in 2024 were online, up 4.55% YoY.
- 50% of P2P payments in 2023 were via digital wallet or mobile app, down 9.1% from 2022.
Global Online Payment Methods
Digital wallet payments are most popular in the Asia-Pacific region with 77% of online transactions using this payment method; a 39.6% higher rate than the global average.
- 89% of online payments in China are made using digital wallets, the highest rate of any country.
- 44% of online payments in Peru are completed via digital wallet, increasing 450% YoY from 2024.
- Credit card payments are most popular in North America with 32% of online transactions completed using this method.
- In Japan, 58% of online payments use credit cards, the highest rate of any country.
- Only 3% of online payments in Nigeria and Poland are completed via credit card, the lowest rate globally.
- Consumers in Chile are the most likely to use debit and prepaid cards at 44% of online transactions completed using this payment method.
- Direct transfer is the most popular in Poland and the Netherlands, accounting for 72% and 64% of online payments, respectively.
- Buy Now, Pay Later is most popular in Sweden with 25% of online transactions completed using this payment method.
- Cash (including cash on delivery, pre-pay, and post-pay) for online purchases is most prevalent in the Philippines with 23% of transactions using this method.
These data and insights were compiled by the Capital One Shopping team based on publicly available data.
Sources
- Worldplay, Global Payments Report
- Statista, Credit Cards Worldwide – Statistics and Facts
- Morning Consult, The State of Consumer Banking & Payments
- United States Census Bureau
- The Federal Reserve Bank, Publications
- Enlyft, Tech