Mobile Payments Surpasses e-Commerce as Top Trend Impacting Consumer Spending, according to CAN Capital Survey

NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- According to industry professionals, the growth of mobile payments technology is overtaking e-commerce as the largest trend impacting the spending habits of today's retail consumers. That's from a new survey by CAN Capital, Inc., the market share leader in alternative small business finance, conducted at financial services and payments conference Money 20/20 this October. Nearly half (47%) of over 160 payments and financial innovation professionals surveyed agreed mobile payments are changing retail consumer spending with an increase in e-commerce coming next (35%) and then personalized marketing and advertisements (18%).

This is a significant change from last year's findings, wherein the majority of respondents (58%) said an increase in e-commerce was having the largest impact on consumer spending. This shift can likely be attributed to mobile technologies becoming more available to the average retail consumer since the launch of products such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Chase Pay over the past year.

In fact, according to research by eMarketer, in 2016, total mobile payment transactions are expected to reach $27.05 billion, with users spending an average of $721.47 annually. Total mobile payment sales will rise faster than average spending per user in 2016 because of the growth in the number of overall users of the technology.

But when considering data breaches and cyber risks, which payment technology is considered the most secure for consumers? Fifty-eight percent agreed debit or credit card transactions at the point of sale remain the most secure form of payment, compared to online payments via processors such as PayPal or Square (22%) or mobile payments using a debit or credit card (20%).

A Changing Payments Landscape for Small Businesses

The evolution of payments technologies affects not only how consumers spend, but how transactions are processed. With technologies changing so quickly, small businesses can have a tough time keeping up. When asked what might be the biggest challenge in payments processing for small businesses, 49 percent of industry experts cited transaction fees, a ten point increase from last year's survey. The ability to comply with changing payments security standards such as EMV came in second (27%) followed closely by risk of data breaches (24%).

"These results show just how rapidly technology is changing the payments landscape for small businesses and consumers alike," said Daniel DeMeo, CEO of CAN Capital. "Especially for small businesses, it can be costly to keep up with these technologies in order to offer consumers the choices they prefer when walking up to the cash register. At CAN Capital, we are able to work closely with our payments processing partners such as Worldpay to help small business merchants access the working capital they need to upgrade their systems and keep pace with the changing payments landscape."

Note to Editors
CAN Capital conducted a survey of payments and financial innovation professionals at this year's Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The survey, conducted from October 25-28, 2015, was developed to gauge the sentiment of payments and financial industry professionals with regard to the needs and challenges of small businesses when it comes to processing payments and working with different providers. Respondents included professionals from various areas of the payments and finance industries. Percentages are based on 166 responses.

About CAN Capital
CAN Capital, Inc., established in 1998, is the pioneer and market share leader in alternative small business finance, having provided access to more than $5 billion in capital for small businesses in a wide range of locations and different business types. As a technology-powered financial services provider, CAN Capital uses innovative and proprietary risk models combined with daily performance data to evaluate business performance and facilitate access to capital for entrepreneurs in a fast and efficient way. CAN Capital, an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing company, makes capital available to businesses through business loans made by WebBank, a Utah chartered Industrial Bank, member FDIC, and through CAN Capital's subsidiaries: Merchant Cash Advances by CAN Capital Merchant Services, Inc., and business loans by CAN Capital Asset Servicing, Inc.

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SOURCE CAN Capital, Inc.