Mobile and Alternative Payments in the U.S., 3rd Edition
Attention: There is an updated edition available for this report.

Published Nov 27, 2012 |
166 Pages |
Pub ID: LA6501335
Special offer: now 20% offoriginal price of $3,995
The mobile payments industry stands at the epicenter of tremendous innovation and change, with market participants introducing a slew of emerging payments solutions—from Square to Google Wallet to Popmoney to Serve to V.me. Thanks to the widespread adoption of smartphones, the consumer audience now has the means to use them; however, they still may not be accustomed to or even well informed about the new topography of the payment landscape.
The industry also serves as a nexus connecting the often competing interests of wireless carriers, phone manufacturers, payments networks, merchant acquirers, card associations, point-of-sale technology providers, nonbanking payment solution providers, banks, and retailers. At stake is the transformation of the consumer wallet—and the control traditional payment players have historically had over it—as well as the possibility of new revenue streams generated by data analytics, advertising, and other value-added products and services, above and beyond merchant payment fee revenue.
Even with mobile payments still in its nascent stage, Packaged Facts expects U.S. remote and point-of-sale mobile payments volume to grow by 275% in 2013, a testament to the impact of current product rollouts and consumer uptake already underway.
Mobile and Alternative Payments in the U.S. provides industry participants with the wealth of analysis and guidance they need to stay abreast of this quickly evolving market. Report coverage includes market sizing and forecast for U.S. mobile payments, as well as a comprehensive evaluation of competitor dynamics:
- Mobile payments strategies employed by the leading U.S. card associations, including American Express’ prepaid card innovation and Serve digital platform innovation, Discover Financial Services’ alternative payments strategy and PayPal and Google Wallet relationships, MasterCard PayPass and PayPass Wallet Services, and Visa V.me
- Mobile payment solutions developed by Digital Leaders, including online commerce behemoths Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Groupon and PayPal; innovative offline commerce players LevelUp and Square; the Isis Mobile Commerce Network; and retailer mobile payment strategies
- Macro trends shaping the mobile payments landscape, including eCommerce growth, NFC payment growth. bill payment trends, P2P growth and associated metrics, and mobile payment fraud and security issues
- Mobile phone and smartphone ownership trends, app usage, and tablet ownership
- Mobile phone usage trends pertinent to mobile payments, including mobile phone usage trending over time and related demographic analysis
- Mobile payment methods (i.e. P2P, bill payment, etc.) and payment funding choices by demographic
- Mobile payers’ current and intended use of mobile payment, deposit and communication methods, broken out by smartphone users, non-smartphone users, mobile bankers, and mobile payers
- Recent and intended use of mobile phone financial, promotional & shopping tools
- Mobile phone and smart phone feature usage; smartphone share of mobile phone ownership by demographic; and voice, data and text plan penetration
- Executive Summary
- Report Scope
- Market Size and Forecast
- Macro Trends Shaping the Mobile Payments Landscape
- Mobile Phone Usage Trends
- Mobile banking trends
- Mobile payments trends
- Consumer Interest in Mobile Phone Financial, Promotional and Shopping Enhancements
- Mobile Payments Strategies: Card Associations
- Mobile Payments Strategies: Digital Leaders
- Mobile Payments Strategies: Mobile Network Operators
- Mobile Payments Strategies: Retailers
- Chapter 1: Overview
- Mobile financial services: banking and payments
- Mobile financial services
- Mobile banking
- Mobile payments
- Mobile payment technologies
- SMS text messaging
- WAP
- RFID
- NFC
- 2D Barcode
- Mobile payment funding options
- Online and offline payment methods/players
- Chapter 2: Market Size and Forecast
- Summary analysis
- Mobile payments set for takeoff—but only after some dust settles
- Worldwide mobile payment growth
- The U.S. market
- Mobile payment usage is on the uptake
- But payment frequency remains low
- Table 2-1: U.S. Mobile Payment Transaction Value, 2012-2016
- Growth drivers
- Piggybacking on online banking and bill payment
- Giving merchant acceptance a shot in the arm
- Non-banking mobile payments players transitioning online account goldmine to offline arena
- Leapfrogging the near-term NFC hurdle
- Awareness and education set to rise
- Convenience/portability
- Greater payment flexibility
- Growth inhibitors
- Too many cooks spoil the broth
- Technology standardization
- Security and fraud
- On the fence
- Speed
- Financial service provider fees
- Chapter 3: Macro Trends Shaping Mobile Payments Landscape
- Mobile phone usage nears saturation
- Graph 3-1: Mobile Phone Users and Usage Penetration, 2004-2012
- Smartphone shares reaches majority status
- Smartphone share passes 50%
- Table 3-1: Consumer Mobile Phone Ownership, Smartphone Ownership and Ownership Share, 2012
- Past the tipping point—onward and upward
- Apps and more apps
- Graph 3-2: iTunes Music and App Store Downloads
- Tablet usage share triples in less than 18 months
- Table 3-2: Tablet Ownership, Spring 2011-Summer 2012
- Tablet and smartphone demographic synergy
- Table 3-3: Consumer Tablet Ownership, by Demographic, Summer 2012
- E-commerce gains
- Graph 3-3: Quarterly E-Commerce Retail Sales, Percentage Growth, and Percent of Retail Sales, 2003-2012
- NFC: low penetration to high penetration—but when?
- A small merchant footprint
- Contactless a small ripple in a big pond
- PayPass merchant adoption at 400,000
- Bottom line: incremental growth does not a revolution make
- Looking down the road: 2015 will tell a different story
- An EMV nudge
- Consumer bill pay methods: mail continues to dwindle
- Among alternatives, online bill pay rising fastest
- Graph 3-4: Consumer Bill Pay Preferences: Forms Used, 2007-2012
- Online banking and bill pay add more users
- Graph 3-5: Online Banking and Bill Payment: Household Usage, 2002-2011
- Eyeing P2P
- Players
- The P2P usage universe
- Table 3-4: Domestic and International Person-to-Person Money Sending/Receipt, 2010-2012
- U.S. mail dominates; Western Union, Money Gram and PayPal are key players
- Table 3-5: Domestic Person-to-Person Money Sending/Receipt: By Method, 2010-2012
- Lots of checks and cash left to convert
- 95% of dollar value in cash and checks!
- Mobile banking usage lags awareness
- Graph 3-6: Mobile Banking Feature Awareness vs. Use
- Security and fraud concerns holding adoption back
- Security concerns thwart use of mobile banking
- Specific mobile banking security concerns
- Graph 3-7: Mobile Banking Feature Awareness vs. Use
- But can mobile payments actually be more secure than traditional payments?
- Mobile phone as fraud reducer
- Dynamic authentication
- Password-protect phone and payment app
- Facial recognition
- Am I protected? It depends on the funding
- If protection level is not tied to phone, then what’s the problem?
- Security in the Cloud
- Pros
- Cons
- Reducing fraud
- Google Wallet vulnerability: fire flared up, then put out
- Reaching the unbanked
- Mobile phones can help them connect more deeply to financial services
- It’s more a question of data plan and internet usage, not access
- Table 3-6: All Consumers vs. Unbanked Consumers: Cell Phone Usage, Cell Phone Text Messaging, Web Browsing, Data Plan, App and Operating System Usage/Population, Tablet
- Ownership/Population, and Online Banking Usage/Population, 2012
- And the underbanked
- Convenience a mobile banking driver
- Chapter 4: Mobile Phone Usage Trends
- Summary analysis
- Mobile phone ownership nears saturation point
- Graph 4-1: Mobile Phone Ownership and Ownership Penetration, 2004-2012
- Increasing variety of features making their way onto mobile phones
- Texting usage nears 60%
- Camera/picture phone use bodes well for remote check deposit
- Table 4-1: Mobile Phone Features and Services Penetration, 2007-2012
- Feature engagement
- Downloading apps, GPS and camcorder phone engagement above 50%
- Graph 4-2: Mobile Phone Feature Usage and Engagement: By Feature, 2012
- Data plans attached to a third of mobile phones
- Graph 4-3: Share of Mobile Phone Owners with Limited and Unlimited Voice, Data and Text Plans, 2012
- Mobile phone usage and smartphone usage share
- Smartphone share passes 50%
- Youth, higher income consumers and racial/ethnic minorities lead the way
- Table 4-2: Consumer Mobile Phone Ownership, Smartphone Ownership and Ownership Share, 2012
- Smartphone users vs. non-smartphone users: feature usage, bill and downloads
- Texting carries across smartphones and non-smartphones
- Data-driven feature usage is smartphone dependent
- Strong feature-driven user base for mobile payments providers to target
- Table 4-3: Feature Usage, Phone Bill and App Download Frequency: Smartphone Users
- vs. Non-Smartphone Users, 2012
- 25-34s drive usage, but internet, text and e-mail penetration implies broad target population
- Table 4-4: Smartphone User Feature Usage, Phone Bill and App Download Frequency: By Age Bracket, 2012
- Usage consistent across incomes despite significant billing differences
- Table 4-5: Smartphone User Feature Usage, Phone Bill and App Download Frequency: By HH Income, 2012
- Chapter 5: Mobile Banking Trends
- Summary analysis
- Mobile bankers
- 25-34s and non-whites pivotal demographics
- Table 5-1: Mobile Banking: Usage Penetration, 2012
- Mobile banking features and services
- Almost 50 million using phone to check account balance/recent transactions
- Remote check deposit is quickly gaining traction
- Table 5-2: Mobile Banking Features and Services Usage Penetration and Population: U.S. Population, Mobile Phone and Smartphone Users, 2012
- Mobile bankers = smartphone users
- Table 5-3: Mobile Banking and Mobile Banking Frequency: Mobile Phone, Smartphone and Non-Smartphone Users, 2012
- Chapter 6: Mobile Payments Trends
- Summary analysis
- Mobile payers
- Gaining a foothold
- Table 6-1: Mobile Payments Usage Penetration, 2012
- But marked by infrequent use
- Table 6-2: Mobile Payments Per Month, 2012
- Mobile payment methods
- Bill payment has widest usage footprint
- P2P taking hold
- 1 in 10 tapping phone at POS; using virtual wallets
- Table 6-3: Mobile Payment Methods, 2012
- It’s a generational issue more than a financial one
- Table 6-4: Mobile Payment Methods: Analysis by Gender, Age and HH income, 2012
- Payment cards prevailing funding option, followed by bank account and PayPal
- Table 6-5: Mobile Payments Funding Sources, 2012
- Youth and money
- Table 6-6: Mobile Payments Funding Sources: Analysis by Gender, Age and HH income, 2012
- Past 12 months vs. next 12 months: mobile payment, deposit and communication methods
- Current state of affairs
- Future state of affairs
- Graph 6-1: Mobile Payers’ Mobile Payment, Deposit and Communication Methods:
- Current vs. Intended Use, 2012
- Interest during next 12 months
- Interest more prevalent among smartphone users
- Table 6-7: Interest in Mobile Phone Payment, Deposit and Communication Methods in Next
- 12 months: Mobile Phone, Smartphone and Non-Smartphone Users, 2012
- Mobile bankers and mobile payers express similar interest
- Table 6-8: Interest in Mobile Phone Payment, Deposit and Communication Methods in Next
- 12 months: Mobile Phone Users, Mobile Bankers and Mobile Payers, 2012
- 65+ smartphone users could benefit from barcode scanning app
- Table 6-9: Interest in Mobile Payment by Text, Barcode Scan and Web Browser in Next 12 Months: Smartphone Users vs. Non-Smartphone Users by Demographic, 2012
- Hispanic intention to tap phone at POS lags average
- Table 6-10: Interest in Mobile Payment by App, POS Tap and Picture Bill Payment in Next 12 Months: Smartphone Users vs. Non-Smartphone Users by Demographic, 2012
- Intended use of picture check deposit among 35-44s lag average
- Table 6-11: Interest in Picture Check Deposit and Two-Way Alerts in Next 12 Months: Smartphone Users vs. Non-Smartphone Users by Demographic, 2012
- Chapter 7: Consumer Interest in Mobile Phone Financial, Promotional and Shopping Enhancements
- Summary analysis
- Introduction
- Mobile Phone Financial and Promotional Organization
- Mobile Financial and Promotional Organization Tools: Current Use and Future Use
- Graph 7-1: Mobile Payers: Current and Future Use of Mobile Financial and Promotional Organization Tools, 2012
- Non-smartphone users interested, too
- Table 7-1: Interest in Mobile Financial And Promotional Organization Tools in Next 12 months:Mobile Phone, Smartphone& Non-Smartphone Users
- Mobile bankers most apt to express interest in variety of methods
- Table 7-2: Interest in Mobile Financial and Promotional Organization Tools in Next 12 Months: Mobile Phone Users, Mobile Bankers and Mobile Payers, 2012
- Mobile Phone Shopping Enhancements
- Mobile Shopping Tools: Current Use and Future Use
- Stop using that cell phone to find a better offer and then shop elsewhere!
- Keep them in the store and upsell them
- Comparing prices while shopping a popular phenomenon
- Graph 7-2: Mobile Payers: Current and Future Use of Mobile Shopping Tools, 2012
- Non-smartphone users interested, too
- Table 7-3: Interest in Mobile Shopping Tools in Next 12 months: Mobile Phone, Smartphone and Non-Smartphone Users, 2012
- Mobile banker interest suggests platform development route
- Table 7-4: Interest in Mobile Shopping Tools in Next 12 months: Mobile Phone Users, Mobile Bankers and Mobile Payers
- Chapter 8: Mobile Payments Strategies: Card Associations
- American Express
- Payment diversification
- Prepaid moves
- Filling a void
- Strong consumer value proposition
- Bluebird takes flight
- Part of the digital wallet
- Serve
- Tapping younger, affluent customers
- Building use base via partners with large customer bases
- Ticketmaster
- Verizon
- Funding agnostic
- P2P and other nifty things
- Bridging online and offline
- Personalized offers
- My Offers personalizes daily deals
- Go Social
- Location-based SMS text messaging for feature phone users
- Location-based offers for iPhone on the way
- Loyalty automation
- Serve revenue
- Table 8-1: Serve Revenue Drivers and Cost Drivers
- Discover Financial Services, Inc.
- Discover building significant relationships
- Alternative payments strategy
- PayPal card
- Google Wallet card
- MasterCard
- PayPass
- Security
- PayPass Wallet Services
- PayPass network remains very small
- MasterCard inControl: Security, financial control and awareness
- The bigger picture: EMV is the key
- Strong on security
- Weak on adoption
- Visa
- Priority 1: driving consumer adoption
- Rollout with major banking and retail partners
- V.me makes huge splash abroad
- Visa mobile payments relationship building
- Chapter 9: Mobile Payments Strategies: Digital Leaders
- Introductory competitive analysis
- The mobile payment solution with the most users wins?
- Table 9-1: Leading E-Commerce Mobile Payments Players: Consumer Usage Metrics
- Who has the fee edge?
- Table 9-2: Leading E-Commerce Mobile Payments Players: Merchant Processing Fees
- And how/where do I pay?
- Table 9-3: Leading E-Commerce Mobile Payments Players: Payment Options
- New technologies at the point of sale
- Table 9-4: Leading E-Commerce Mobile Payments Players: POS Payment Method
- Amazon Payments
- Drawing from an enormous consumer usage base
- Table 9-5: Amazon.com Website Monthly Usage Penetration and Visits per Month, 2007-2012
- Checkout by Amazon
- Checkout by Amazon Mobile
- Amazon Simple Pay
- Amazon WebPay
- Amazon Mobile Payments Service
- Flexible Payment Services
- Pricing and fees
- Table 9-6: Amazon Payments: Fee Structure, 2012
- Apple
- Passbook
- Dipping a toe in offline space
- NFC still not on the menu, but perhaps fingerprints are?
- Missing pieces
- The iTunes connection
- 400 million accounts worldwide
- Millions of highly engaged U.S. users
- Who align well with smartphone demographic
- Table 9-7: iTunes Annual, Weekly and Daily Usage Population and Demographic Analysis, 2012
- Key mobile technology groups likely to use iTunes
- Table 9-8: iTunes Annual, Weekly and Daily Usage Penetration and Population Universe: By Cell Phone Owners, Cell Phone Data Plan, Android and iOS Users, App Downloaders, Tablet Owners, and Online Bankers, 2012
- Graph 9-1: iTunes Annual, Weekly and Daily Usage Penetration: By Cell Phone Owners, Cell Phone Data Plan, Android and iOS Users, App Downloaders, Tablet Owners, and Online Bankers, 2012
- Google Wallet
- Wallet 1.0: lots of fanfare; little success
- Wallet 1.5: putting it in the cloud
- Calling all cards
- Save to Wallet feature
- Online/offline integration: Enter the virtual prepaid card
- Online purchases: ubiquity, courtesy of MasterCard
- In-store purchase limited by NFC
- Security enhancement
- Wallet 2.0: Leapfrogging NFC with a physical card
- Thank you, Discover
- The interchange issue: Google loses on transaction revenue
- Direct to carrier billing payments strategy; digital content focus
- Providing opportunity for Facebook App Center
- 15% of revenue from payments
- Mobile active users set to top 500 million
- Graph 9-2: Facebook Mobile Active Users and Average Revenue Per User, 2011-2012
- Groupon Payments
- Very attractive pricing
- LevelUp
- The best pricing: no interchange
- Incentive programs, merchant partnerships and user base
- LevelUp makes its money from added-value analytics
- Merchant-driven customer discounts
- Addressing security concerns
- Table 9-10: LevelUp Security Summary
- PayPal
- Bill Me Later
- Zong
- 100 million accounts and counting
- The PayPal P2P usage base
- Online and mobile capability
- PayPal Wallet
- PayPal Here: POS solution
- The Discover network connection
- The card you use to pay matters: lower interchange = better for PayPal
- Location-based mobile advertising
- Addressing fraud
- Square, Inc.
- How much it costs
- Table 9-12: Square Pricing Options and Fees
- How it works
- Open tab feature
- Loyalty tracking
- Security
- Tools
- Square Card Reader
- Square Register
- Starbucks breaks it wide open
- Starbucks
- Chapter 10: Mobile Payments Strategies: Processors and
- POS Solution Providers
- Heartland Payment Systems
- Going Mobuyle
- Penetrating higher education
- Fiserv
- Leveraging relationships to build an integrated platform
- Table 10-1: Fiserv Customer Relationships, by Payment Method and Device
- Electronic banking
- Electronic bill payment and presentment
- Digital channels
- P2P opportunity
- 2010 P2P launch
- 2011 Popmoney integration
- Demand surging
- Fast transaction execution
- Integration with bill payment
- Spot Pay: Setting sights on Square and PayPal
- Windows 8 Digital Banking
- Verifone
- 1 million NFC terminals shipped
- Terminal upgrades coming
- Straddling emerging wallets
- Chapter 11: Mobile Payments Strategies: Mobile Network Operators
- Isis
- 230 million accounts is a nice start
- Table 11-1: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile Subscribers, ARPU and Service Revenue, 2009-2011
- Isis
- A challenge to the payment networks
- Open wallet approach
- Table 11-2: Isis: What’s in the Wallet and How It Works
- Off the ground after delays
- Chapter 12: Mobile Payments Strategies: Retailers
- Merchant Customer Exchange
- Wal-Mart testing
- Starbucks
- Starbucks takes the barcode route
- 100 mobile million transactions and counting
- Stored value card foundation
- Benefits
- Square partnership—a Square investment
- Restaurant chains
- McDonald’s
- Dunkin Donuts
- Appendix
- Consumer survey methodology
- Market size and forecast
- Report table interpretation
- Abbreviations
- Terms and definitions
- Explanatory tables
- Table: Appendix – 1: Mobile Phone, Smartphone, Non-Smartphone, Mobile Banking and
- Mobile Payments Users: 2012
- Table: Appendix – 2: U.S. Cell Phone Ownership/Use, by Demographic: 2012 Survey Comparison