60% of Consumers Would Make a Voice-Commerce Purchase, a TSYS Survey Finds

A strong majority of consumers—60%—would use an intelligent personal assistant or voice-activated speaker to make a purchase or payment, finds the latest iteration of the TSYS U.S. Consumer Payment Study.

The response is notable in because it was less than a year ago that another survey found only 19% of consumers made a voice-controlled purchase.

Released by processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS), the survey of more than 1,200 consumers also found that 76% of respondents in the 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 age groups would make a voice-commerce purchase. The next highest response, 67%, is from those 45 to 54 years old, followed by 18 to 24, 56%; 55 to 64, 37%; and 65 and older, 21%.

“Seeing the potential for integration of intelligent personal assistants into the customer experience, [financial institutions] recently started offering the ability for consumers to check balances, make transfers or view recent transactions,” the report notes. “We believe a strong potential exists for intelligent personal assistants to facilitate payments as adoption increases.”

Columbus, Ga.-based TSYS also asked about the likelihood of loading payment card details into a mobile wallet. It found that 24% of credit card holders and 26% of debit card holders would never load their cards into a digital wallet. Eighteen percent and 20%, respectively, said they were not likely to do so.

Eighteen percent of both cardholder groups were neutral on doing so. More credit card users, 22%, were likely to than debit card users, 19%. Nine percent of credit card holders definitely planned to, compared with 8% of debit card holders.

Only a small percentage, 10% of credit card holders and 9% of debit card holders, already had loaded the payment card details into a mobile wallet.

In a related question, of those with a credit or debit card loaded into a mobile wallet, 68% plan to make 50% or more of their in-store purchases using the wallet within two years.

The survey also revealed a shift in consumer payment type preference. In 2017, 44% of consumers preferred using a debit card, compared with 33% choosing a credit card and 12% opting for cash. That compares to 2016 when 40% of consumers made a credit card the first choice and 36% chose a debit card. Cash preference stood at 11% in 2016.

“Our latest study confirms that consumers are ready for change and adapting to the ever-evolving payments industry as new solutions are introduced,” Allen Pettis, TSYS executive vice president and chief customer officer, issuer solutions, said in a statement. “Because of this, retailers and payments providers can continue reimagining the digital purchase experience for consumers.”