Consumers prefer online rather than mobile transfers - report

Consumers are more comfortable making A2A transfers from a PC or laptop than from a mobile device, particularly when transferring funds between different institutions,” according to the “P2P Payments in 2015” report issued by Javelin Strategy & Research, cutimes.com reports. Like P2P payments, A2A (me to me) transfers are commonly initiated through the consumers internet banking service, a billers payment website, or telephone instruction from the consumer.

Unlike P2P transfers, consumers must access an existing retail payment account (deposit account) at a financial institution in an A2A transaction. Consumers conducted USD 714.78 billion in A2A online transfers in 2015, which compares to USD 224.04 billion in A2A mobile transfers. The report revealed online banking systems’ longtime accessibility, as well as the limits placed on mobile banking platforms, as likely reasons for the online channel preference.

Wire transfers from financial institutions dominated the market with USD 139.21 billion transferred in 2015. The next-largest category was online transfers from a financial institution, at USD 84.85 billion. Because most online bank transfers are low-cost or free and made at the consumer’s convenience, they represent a major threat to financial institution wire transfers.

While much hype surrounds the mobile P2P services offered by companies such as Venmo and Facebook, money transmitters such as Western Union and Money Gram are generating enough annual volume to demonstrate a strong consumer need for the service as well. Consumers sent USD 139.21 billion in P2P payments from financial institutions and another USD 30.8 billion from money transmitter services.

In addition, the average transaction dollar value of a financial institution-provided P2P service totals USD 227, compared to USD 130 for services not provided by a financial institution. Consumer adoption of online A2A transfers within the same financial institution stood at 55%, compared to 38% for the same function on a mobile device.

Adoption of A2A transfers between financial institutions was 37% in 2015 for the online channel versus 27% for the mobile channel. The bulk of mobile A2A transfers performed moved money within the same institution (USD 170.29 billion). Online P2P transfers show the highest levels of consumer adoption, with 32% at financial institutions and 31% at non-bank providers such as PayPal.