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Non-Millennials Embrace Zelle, Making up Half of New P2P Users

Overall, millennials have driven blossoming technology, including P2P payment usage. That was until now. Zelle has managed to crack the code, gaining traction with Generation Xers and Boomers.

The Digital Payments Adoption Study released earlier this month by Early Warning Services, LLC, the network operator behind Zelle, showed that 50% of first time P2P users are 45 and older. The study shows that older generations are using P2P because of the public’s growing trust and confidence in digital payments.

The study, which is second such survey released by Early Warning Services, included   more than 1,500 U.S. consumers and looked at use during the fourth quarter of 2018. Participants in the survey owned a smartphone and held either a checking and/or savings account.

“Generation X and Boomers have a high degree of trust in their financial institutions. The increase in trial can be attributed to solutions, such as Zelle, being included within the banking apps these consumers are comfortable using,” Ravi Loganathan, chief data officer at Early Warning, said in a press release.

Of those surveyed, 52% of Generation X and 46% of Boomer respondents said they not only trusted P2P payments and were interested in using available solutions. The main reason that 76 percent Generation X and 74% of Boomers respondents trusted the digital payments was due to Zelle being connected to financial institutions.

Currently, users of more than 5,100 financial institutions are using Zelle for P2P through their financial institution’s mobile banking app or by enrolling their debit cards in the Zellemobile app. The app is for consumers whose financial institutions have not adopted Zelle. It is important to note is that for risk management purposes, one person in the transaction must be a customer with a Zell bank users when exchanging funds using the standalone Zelle app. Today, Zelle is available in the banking apps of more than 79 financial institutions and are under contract with 271 others.

A Major Shift from the Previous Study

Early Warning Services’ April 2018 study found that 49% of millennial smartphone owners, which were defined as those between the ages of 22 and 37, in the U.S. have sent or received money at least once a week. In contrast, 42% of those between the ages of 38 and 53 have made payments at least weekly, and 32% of those 54 to 72 had done the same.

An Expected Trend

It’s not surprising that Zelle saw an upswing in older users, considering experts projected Zelle to grow more than 73%, reaching 27.4 million users in the U.S. in 2019, bypassing the other popular P2P platform, Venmo, according to eMarketer.

Experts believed most of the growth could be attributed to Zelle’s integration with major U.S. banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

The Final Say

As more consumers embrace digital payments and P2P platforms, merchants also will need to consider offering a variety of ways to pay. Merchants that are in need of payment processing services can turn to eMerchantBroker.com (EMB). EMB works with new and existing businesses, like merchants that have been rejected or terminated by other processors, and high risk merchants, as well as those with bad credit, no credit, or a history of excessive chargebacks. Find a payment solution that works for your business today. Get your business processing payments right away. Fill out EMB’s simple, online application today.