P2P rising: new study points to a market on the verge of major growth
P2P payments are proving a big hit with younger consumers, with 62 percent of millennials saying they use a P2P payments service, according to a new survey report from Bank of America. That compares with 36 percent of all adult consumers.
What’s more, the readiness to use P2P to pay bills and settle debts would suggest that the market could explode, the study said. That’s because the survey found that 45 percent of non-users plan to start using a P2P service within the next year. “Technology is developing faster today than at any time in history, and our newest report demonstrates how consumers are embracing emerging technologies to make sense of their financial lives,” said Michelle Moore, head of digital banking at Bank of America.
Along with BB&T, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo, Bank of America is a backer of the Zelle Network, a P2P network that processed more than 170 million P2P payments in 2016, totaling $55 billion in transaction value.
The financial institution’s “Trends in Consumer Mobility Report” also found that:
- 68 percent of P2P users started those services because of convenience and time savings. Other motivations include peer pressure (48 percent), new offerings from banks (30 percent) and no more patience with cash or checks (16 percent).
- P2P users settle their debts quickly. That’s because 69 percent of those users pay back money within the same day, with about 33 percent doing so within an hour. That, of course, raises expectations, with 53 percent of P2P users counting on being repaid within a day, and 22 percent wanting that money within an hour.
- The most popular use for P2P payments, at 48 percent, are shared bills such as utilities and rent—that is, the types of bills roommates tend to split. Other main uses are shared expenses for gifts (42 percent), travel (37 percent) and dining (35 percent).
Bank of America based its findings on a survey of 1,005 U.S adults conducted between March 20 and April 1.
