Fifth annual Mastercard Digital Payments Study highlights social media trends around Digital Wallets, Artificial Intelligence and more
LONDON – February 28, 2017 – Digital Wallets, Artificial Intelligence and Connected Devices dominate social media conversations on digital payments, Mastercard’s study has found.
Digital wallets, which store customers’ account details electronically, made up 75% of all mentions in Mastercard’s study. The increased acceptance of wallets in-store, online and in-app drove social media users to mention them more than 2 million times, with 84 percent of these taking place on Twitter. Beyond the payment, consumers looked forward to additional functionality like storing loyalty cards and supporting closed-loop public transportation systems.
The activation of newer technologies such as artificial intelligence and smart home assistants was the second most discussed payment topic throughout 2016. These new ways to pay generated particularly strong consumer interest in the fourth quarter, as people discussed how they might shop with newer, smarter devices.
At the same time, consumers are showing an increased interest in the application of new technologies to make shopping faster, easier and more secure. The topic of virtual reality generated the most positive sentiment as shoppers discuss making a purchase with the simple nod of their head.
Now in its fifth year, the study, developed in partnership with PRIME Research and Synthesio, analysed more than 3.5 million conversations from the past year across several social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Weibo.