Mobile payment usage continues to grow, decreases population of underbanked

As more consumers become comfortable with mobile payments and the general process of commerce taking place outside brick-and-mortar stores, businesses are adjusting strategies to capitalize. This has been working well, as the IDC Financial Insights' annual Consumer Payments Survey found more than 33 percent of Americans now use mobile payments, NFCNews reports. According to the source, other results of the survey suggest a distinct move of many different debt collection practices toward the electronic world. For example, IDC found more than half of the respondents used online bill pay through a billing website or financial institution. Further, the news provider cited data from the survey that proves consumers are increasingly moving toward prepaid cards as a preferred payment option. This spells good news for the economy, as well as debt recovery service providers, as the increase in mobile and prepaid card payments is shown to reduce the underbanked population of the United States. Last month, Javelin Strategy and Research released a report that showed the 15 percent of Americans who are considered underbanked prefer prepaid accounts, as they reduce the need for more traditional check cashing practices and the like.