Thanks in large part to COVID-19, global digital wallet usage surged three years ahead of expectations in 2020. As a result, it is now more important than ever for merchants to provide an easy, frictionless payment experience. Consumers must be able to pay how and where they want, and at all points of engagement with a merchant.

To learn more about why and how merchants should enable digital wallets for in-store purchases, PaymentsJournal sat down with Tristan Roffey, VP of Strategy & Digital Innovation at Blackhawk Network, and Sarah Grotta, Director of Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group.

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Digital wallet usage is soaring

2020 was a tipping point for digital wallet utilization, as demonstrated by the findings of Blackhawk Network’s recent Global Digital Payments Insights report. Blackhawk surveyed over 13,000 consumers across nine countries and found that 59% of respondents started using, or increased their use of, digital wallets since the pandemic began; 17% used a digital wallet for the first time.

“What we’re finding is that not only are there a lot more consumers that are using them for the first time, but the consumers that were using them prior to the pandemic are now using them more frequently. We’re also finding that consumers spend more when they use digital wallets, but there’s still some frustration among consumers around lack of acceptance,” said Roffey.

The influx of QR code scanning for payments has contributed to this growth. Prior to the pandemic, QR codes had little traction in the United States. Now, they are everywhere from menus at restaurants, to contactless checkout options, to digital payments at the grocery store.

It’s not just tech-savvy consumers that are embracing the digital wallet, which indicates that digital wallets are here to stay. “When you find that consumers who really don’t consider themselves to be tech-forward are finding value in wallets for e-commerce and in-store, then you really know that you’re moving into mass adoption. And that’s certainly beginning to occur,” noted Grotta. 

Adoption on the merchant side is growing, too. “It’s really winning over both large and small...