Digital wallets are becoming a popular choice in the UK and around the world, with many of us choosing to pay from our bank accounts using Apple Pay or Google Pay rather than a debit card. We look at digital wallet usage in the UK and globally, as well as the market size compared to other payment methods.
Digital wallet statistics: Highlights
Over three-fifths (60%) of the global population is predicted to use digital wallets in 2026.
There were 3.4 billion digital wallet users in 2022, growing to a projected 5.2 billion in 2026.
1 in 5 Brits (21%) regularly use their smartphone to pay for items in person.
Almost half (49%) of global online transactions were made with a mobile wallet in 2022.
Over a third (35%) of UK online transactions were made with a mobile wallet in 2022.
Apple Pay is the most popular mobile payment service in the UK as of March 2023.
As of 2020, Apple Pay had 507 million users worldwide.
As of April 2022, Google Pay had 150 million users worldwide.
Almost half of Brits (45%) leave the house with only their phone as a payment method.
The growth of digital wallets in the UK
Research by Finder has revealed that 45% of Brits aged 16 and over leave the house with only their phone as a payment method at least some of the time, which is estimated to be around 25 million people.
A quarter of Brits (25%) only leave the house without another way of paying occasionally, such as when they’re popping to the local shop. However, 1 in 5 (20%) admit to leaving their wallet behind frequently or all the time, with physical wallets becoming less necessary as digital wallets become more common.
There are clear differences across the generations, with almost three-quarters of generation Z (72%) and two-thirds of millennials (66%) opting for phone-only payments when leaving the house.
Meanwhile, only 1 in 4 baby boomers (23%) and 1 in 10 silent generation members (11%) admitted that they would be comfortable leaving the house with only a phone as a payment method, even if it was just for a short period of time.
In 2022, approximately half (49%) of all e-commerce payment transactions around the world were made with a mobile wallet, making it the most popular online payment method.
The market share is set to increase further by 2026, as projections suggest that 54% of e-commerce payments will be made via digital wallets by 2026. It’s also estimated that 60% of the global population will use digital wallets by 2026.
There’s no doubt that digital wallets are becoming a payment method of choice for many of us. With so much of our lives stored in our phones already, it’s easy to pay with mobile too!
In 2022, there were around 3.4 billion digital wallet users globally, and this figure is estimated to rise to a whopping 5.2 billion users by 2026, an increase of 53%. The number of digital wallet users has grown from 2.6 billion in 2020, a rise of over 30% to 2022.
What is the most popular digital wallet?
Apple Pay is the most popular mobile payment service in the UK as of March 2023, with around 69% of those who used mobile payments in the previous year opting for this brand. It is followed quite a way behind by PayPal, which 31% of users had paid with, and Google Pay, which 27% had paid with.
As of 2020, Apple Pay had 507 million users worldwide. 69% of people who use some form of mobile payment in the UK chose to use Apple Pay for an in-person purchase in the first 3 months of 2023, up from 62% in the first 3 months of 2021.
The number of people using Apple Pay for online purchases was significantly lower, with just over a third (35%) using this digital wallet.
As of April 2022, Google Pay had 150 million users worldwide. In the UK, 27% of mobile payment users chose Google Pay for in-person transactions in the first few months of 2023, down from 37% in the third quarter of 2021.
Meanwhile, 1 in 5 users (22%) opted to make a purchase with Google Pay online in the first quarter of 2023, up from 17% in the first quarter of 2021.
Globally, the value of transactions made using digital wallets is predicted to be approximately £7 trillion ($9 trillion) in 2023. By 2028, this is expected to grow a further 77%, with the value of transactions on mobile wallets reaching over £12 trillion ($16 trillion).
UK digital wallet market
Digital transactions worth approximately £259 billion were made in the UK in 2022, and over a third (35%) of online purchases were completed using digital wallets. This is up from 29% of online purchases in 2019.
Digital wallets are a less popular in-store payment method in the UK compared to online, accounting for just 10% of transactions in 2022. However, this is still up from just 4% in 2019, and the share of digital wallet payments has been increasing year on year.
Our 2024 survey found that 1 in 5 Brits (21%) regularly use a digital wallet on their phone to pay for items in person. This is more common among the younger generations, with a third of millenials and generation Z (aged 16-42) regularly using mobile payments.
Digital wallet adoption worldwide
Interestingly, the top 10 countries for digital wallet adoption are based in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. This is because wallets are the first booming digital payment method in these countries, and debit cards and credit cards are less common compared to Europe and North America.
Matthew Boyle is a banking and mortgages publisher at Finder. He has a 7-year history of publishing helpful guides to assist consumers in making better decisions. In his spare time, you will find him walking in the Norfolk countryside admiring the local wildlife. See full bio
Matthew's expertise
Matthew has written 244 Finder guides across topics including:
Helping first-time buyers apply for a mortgage
Comparing bank accounts and highlighting useful features
Sophie Barber is a content marketing manager for Finder in the UK after previously working as a content manager at a digital marketing agency. She has over 5 years experience in writing and publishing clear, concise and informative online articles for a variety of websites. See full bio
Sophie's expertise
Sophie has written 68 Finder guides across topics including:
Publishing original personal finance research
Creating data-led statistics pages to highlight industry trends
Digital-only banks are becoming increasingly popular so we look at the latest digital and online banking statistics in the UK.
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