PULSE® Study Finds Debit Issuers Focused on Digital Payments, Mobile Self-Service, Fraud Mitigation
17 August 2023 - 11:00PM
Business Wire
Greater Consumer Awareness and Merchant
Acceptance Sparked a Rise of Over 87% Year-over-Year in
Point-of-Sale Mobile Wallet Purchases
The 2023 PULSE Debit Issuer Study, commissioned by Discover®
Financial Services’ PULSE debit network and conducted by West
Monroe, finds consumer demand for digital experiences, mobile
self-service capabilities and fraud management is commanding the
attention of financial institutions. Following the volatility
experienced during the pandemic, issuers reported slight growth in
the total number of debit transactions, up 1% year-over-year (YoY)
in 2022, while dollar volume increased 3%.
“After two years of historic disruption in payments, 2022 was a
year for the industry to catch its collective breath and ensure
investments are truly meeting the needs of consumers,” said Steve
Sievert, executive vice president of Marketing and Brand Management
with PULSE. “This year’s study found consumers further embraced
contactless cards and mobile payments, while many issuers are
focused on securing top-of-digital-wallet position for their debit
cards.”
Payment Trends that Surged have Endured
Nearly 80% of issuers reported seeing increased use of mobile
wallets in 2022, and mobile wallet transactions at the
point-of-sale rose more than 87% YoY. Increased mobile wallet use
is being fueled by greater consumer awareness and merchant adoption
of NFC-enabled payment terminals. Meanwhile, the sharp growth over
the past 2 years in account-to-account (A2A) transactions, which
include peer-to-peer payments, business-to-consumer disbursements
and gig-economy wage payments, moderated in 2022 with a 6% YoY
increase.
Meeting Consumer Demand for Mobile Capabilities
With consumers favoring seamless digital experiences and mobile
capabilities, issuers are seeking to keep pace by prioritizing
customer experience. More than one-third of respondents (35%)
reported accelerating the rollout of new digital capabilities in
2022, with an emphasis on self-service features. Many issuers are
investing in a broad range of mobile-app capabilities that allow
consumers to perform functions such as ordering, activating,
freezing or unfreezing a debit card.
Fraud Management is Top Concern
When asked about trends impacting their debit programs, key
focus areas and priority investments, fraud management emerged as
issuers’ top concern in 2022. Nearly 90% of issuers reported
increased attention on fraud issues, and nearly 45% said fraud
initiatives were high-impact. Three-quarters of respondents (76%)
reported they enhanced their fraud models to reduce fraud losses
and false positives, which negatively impact cardholders. Four out
of 10 said they are working to improve the cardholder-dispute
experience.
Steady Year-Over-Year Performance
The 2023 Debit Issuer Study found modest improvement in debit
key performance indicators from 2021 to 2022. Debit usage per
active card remained flat YoY, at more than 29 transactions per
month. Debit penetration rates rose marginally to 84.5% of accounts
(up 0.2%), and the active rate (the percentage of issuers’ debit
cards used regularly) increased slightly to 68.6% (up 1.2%). The
average debit ticket increased 2.4% to $48.49 per transaction,
likely due to inflation.
For more information, visit the PULSE Debit Issuer Study
resource center.
About the Study
The 2023 Debit Issuer Study is the 18th installment in the study
series, commissioned by PULSE and conducted by West Monroe, a
digital services firm. The study provides an objective fact base on
debit issuer performance and financial institutions’ outlook for
the debit business. Study respondents included large banks, credit
unions and community banks. The sample is representative of the
U.S. debit market in terms of institution type, geography and debit
network participation.
About PULSE
PULSE is a leader in debit payments, cash access and account
transfers, and we deliver exceptional value, choice and convenience
to clients across the payments ecosystem. We enable reliable and
secure digital money movement for a wide variety of debit card
programs by leveraging our PULSE Network, the Discover® Debit
program, an advanced fraud-detection platform and partner-support
services. Our commitment to continuous improvement, innovation and
prioritizing the unique business needs of our clients empowers
payment solutions that meet the evolving demands of consumers.
PULSE is a Discover (NYSE: DFS) company and part of the Discover
Global Network. For more information, visit PULSEnetwork.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230817589342/en/
Anne Uwabor, 832-214-0234 PULSE anneuwabor@pulsenetwork.com
Dan Keeney, 832-467-2904 DPK Public Relations dan@dpkpr.com
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