Thales, a leader in critical information systems, cyber security and data protection, organised the survey in conjunction with Wakefield about Americans’ use of digital payment methods, as well as the perceived safety of those transactions. According to the survey, 88% of respondents reported they would discontinue using digital payments if they personally fell victim to cyber criminal activities as a result of a data breach. Respondents said that they would discontinue use of digital payments if money was stolen from a linked bank account – 70%; if unauthorised charges appeared on a linked credit card account – 68%; if a username and password was stolen – 59% and or if they experienced increased spam emails – 30%.

n the past few years, digital payments have become faster, easier and more convenient for consumers, leading to an increased adoption of these services. The survey revealed that over half (60%) of respondents currently use a method of digital payment, with baby boomers (50%) lagging behind millennials (74%). The most popular digital payment method was Paypal, currently leveraged by 51% of survey respondents. The next most popular forms of digital payment according to the survey were, Apple Pay (11%), Google Wallet (7%), Android Pay (6%), Chase Pay (6%), Samsung Pay (5%) and Venmo (3%).

Finally the survey revealed that 40% of Americans do not feel safe using digital payments while travelling.

Jose Diaz, director of payment strategy at Thales e-Security says:  “It’s easy to see why mobile payments continue to grow in popularity – they are fast and convenient. But results of the survey showed that people have strong doubts about their safety, especially while travelling. The mobile payments industry needs to take note that their future success is based on trust. And that trust can easily fail if they do not provide the strong protection of their infrastructure, transactions and data that customers expect.”