The shift to mobile wallets is moving at an incredible pace in the UK

COVID-19 has had a huge impact on retail when it comes to taking and making payments. People are becoming increasingly reluctant to use physical cash that has been handled by other people, and retail stores have a duty of care to their staff to make sure they aren’t put at risk by potentially-infected coins and notes. 

This hasn’t gone unnoticed by people involved in FinTech. There is a clear, speedy move towards mobile payments, not only due to the safety aspect but in the overall experience being smoother, quicker and more efficient. Other payment-adjacent factors have also changed, such as the rapid rise in alternative shopping choices such as in-store pickup, curbside delivery and quick delivery, at no extra cost. 

In the UK in 2019, for the first time ever more than half of all payments were made through debit cards or contactless payments. We expect this will have rocketed during 2020 due to the impact of coronavirus meaning more retailers starting to accept cards and mobile wallet payments. What was a steady rise over the recent years will have turned into a huge spike toward turning Britain into a cashless society, with mobile wallets at the heart of it all. 

When it comes to the worldwide situation, a recent study showed that nearly nine out of ten shoppers across eight countries use a digital wallet of some kind. And in America, mobile wallet use leapt from 38% before the pandemic, to 55%. This huge increase shows that consumers are making the move towards mobile wallets. The barrier to entry has been broken and the next stage is to encourage usage through innovation and providing useful benefits to the user. 

And this shift won’t be reversed any time soon. The benefits of mobile wallets are immediately apparent, thanks to location-based technology, loyalty schemes and other useful utilities such as ticketing functions. Peoples mindsets, demands and habits have been changed dramatically during 2020, with these changes taking place in a matter of months when it was previously predicted to take years. 

Looking to the future, the trajectory of mobile wallets and digital payments depends on how businesses take advantage of the many benefits now available to them, including not only the convenience of paying with a smartphone but utilising the customer’s device to deliver enticing rewards and a user experience that enhances the life of the consumer, creating happy and loyal customers.