Are Digital Wallets Doomed to Fail?

The success of digital wallets varies greatly depending upon whom you ask. In early August, Goldman Sachs analysts proclaimed that digital wallet adoption had been "underwhelming to date by nearly every objective standard." The note stated that while Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) Apple Pay was the dominant leader in the space, accounting for 90% of all contactless payments originating from a smartphone in the U.S., it still was struggling to gain real traction. The report went on to say that only 27% of eligible American consumers had ever used Apple Pay, and only 8% used it every week.

A recent survey from PYMNTS.com found similar results, concluding that consumers don't remember to use mobile wallets even when their phone has a mobile wallet on it that the store accepts.

So, mobile wallets will never gain any traction, right? Not so fast! Other surveys insist these payment methods have a future of robust growth. A recent U.S. Bancorp study found consumer preference for paying via a digital app (47%) narrowly outweighed consumer preference for using cash (45%); a number that includes 49% of millennials who prefer paying via digital methods. A white paper from Juniper Research suggested that by 2022, 50% of all point-of-sale (POS) transactions will be facilitated via contactless payments, up from just 15% this year.

Source: Fool.com