Alternative methods outpace bank cards in global online payments

In their ‘Global Alternative Payment Methods: Second Half 2016‘ report, yStats reveals that the combined share of alternative payment methods globally account for a higher share of ecommerce sales than traditional credit cards.

Although credit and debit cards still account for the highest share of global ecommerce sales compared to other individual payment methods, the combined share of alternative payment methods now outweighs bank card payments and accounts for more than 50% of global online retail payments.

In the coming years, through 2020, yStats forecasts that credit and debit card share will further decrease while use of alternative payments will continue to rise.

The top alternative online payment method is e-wallet, accounting for close to one-third of global ecommerce sales. It is also the second most-used payment method for cross-border online shopping. Other prominent alternative payment methods include bank transfer, direct debit, cash on delivery, payment by invoice and in-store payment.

However, when individual markets are considered, credit or debit card use remains high in advanced markets such as the U.S., U.K, Canada, Australia, Japan and France.

“Overall, the diverse payment method preferences of online shoppers worldwide necessitate offering a range of payment options,” says yStats. “Three quarters of online merchants concur with this reasoning by accepting at least 3 different online payment options, according to a 2016 survey cited in the yStats.com report.”

In a press release last week, Amazon announced that 33million of its customers, across 170 countries, now use Amazon Payments. Half of those who use the alternative payment method are Prime members. The average spend per transaction is $80 and the largest payment handled by the service was for $40,000.

Almost a third of Amazon Payments transactions (32%) took place on a mobile device.