The number of Australians who are relying on their phone or wearable, instead of their card or wallet, to make payments has doubled in three years – from 19% in 2019 to 38% in 2022, with younger people aged 18-24 leading the digital wallet charge.
The breakneck speed at which Australians are shifting to digital banking is captured in the Australian Banking Association’s new interactive Spend the Day site, which provides important insights into Australians’ spending habits in a fast-changing payments environment.
The ABA site revealed that 20% of all payments are now made using PayID, with 15 million PayID registrations as of May 1, up from 6 million in 2021; and that one in two Australian smartphone users use their mobile phone to make a purchase in-store, in-app, or on a website, up from 18% in 2019 to 49% in 2022.
“The transformation of the nation’s payments preferences is continuing at a rapid pace and this new site provides a comprehensive snapshot of the latest trends,” said ABA CEO Anna Bligh (pictured above). “Designed to be interactive and easy to navigate and update, the site helps explain the current state of our payments system in Australia.”
Some of the payment trends are as follow:
- Only 9% of those aged 65 and over reported leaving home without their wallets or cards
- Seventy per cent of Australians reported not having visited a branch in the past month
- Only 3% of Australians reported visiting a branch three or more times in the past month
- Just 4% of Australians said they prefer visiting a branch to check account balances, with the remainder opting to utilise a mobile banking app (56%), internet banking (31%), phone banking (4%), and online live chat (1%)
- Just 4% of Australians reported preferring to visit a branch to pay bills, with the rest opting to use a mobile banking app (49%), internet banking (35%), phone banking (4%), and online live chat (2%).
What do you think about this rapid shift to digital banking? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
