5 minutes
What 63,000 shoppers just told us about paying
How your customers want to pay – and what that means for your business.
Key points
- Digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Cash App) now account for 56% of global e-commerce transaction value and 33% of in-store spending, according to the 2026 Global Payments Report (GPR) from Worldpay, now part of Global Payments, based on 63,000+ consumers across 42 markets.
- In the US, digital wallets represent 40% of online transaction value and 17% of in-store point-of-sale (POS) value.
- Cards remain essential: US consumers spent more than $16 trillion via credit, debit and prepaid cards in 2025. Card acceptance quality – approval rates, reliability, decline handling – directly affects revenue.
- Buy now, pay later (BNPL) accounts for 6% of US e-commerce value and is forecast to grow at 13% annually through 2030.
- For small businesses, accepting the payment methods customers prefer isn't a competitive advantage anymore – it's a baseline expectation.
May is National Small Business Month – a moment to recognize the 33.2 million small businesses that form the backbone of the American economy. It's also a timely prompt to ask a question that directly affects every one of those businesses: When your customers pull out their phones at checkout, are you ready for however they want to pay?
Every year, Worldpay, now part of Global Payments, publishes the Global Payments Report (GPR) – the payments industry's most comprehensive look at how consumers pay, across 42 markets and more than 63,000 consumers surveyed. The 2026 edition tells a clear story: Payments are changing faster than most businesses realize, and the gap between what customers expect and what some businesses offer is quietly widening.
Here's what the data says, and what it means for you.
What payment methods do customers prefer now?
Globally, digital wallets – think Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and Cash App – now account for 56% of e-commerce transaction value and 33% of in-store spending. That's not a trend. That's the new baseline.
But "digital wallet" isn't one thing. The wallet on your customer's phone is a container. Inside it might be a credit card, a debit card, a buy now, pay later option or a direct bank transfer – sometimes all of the above. When a customer taps to pay, they're not just choosing a payment method. They're choosing the whole experience: fast, secure and invisible.
For small businesses, the implication is practical: Accepting digital wallets isn't optional anymore.
Are cards still relevant for small businesses?
Yes – emphatically. Cards aren't going anywhere. Across the 42 markets in the GPR, consumers spent more than $16 trillion directly via credit, debit and prepaid cards in 2025. In the US specifically, credit cards accounted for 32% of online transaction value and 40% at the point of sale. Meanwhile debit cards accounted for 16% of e-com and 28% of in-store spending.
"The card doesn't disappear – it moves inside the phone."
The shift worth watching is where those cards are being used. While Americans are using cards directly – especially at POS – consumers are increasingly running their cards through digital wallets rather than presenting them directly. The card doesn't disappear – it moves inside the phone. For merchants, this means card acceptance quality still matters enormously: Approval rates, processing reliability and how you handle declines all directly affect your bottom line, regardless of how the customer initiates the payment.
What's happening with payments in the US right now?
The US picture from GPR 2026 is one of a market in transition – cards and cash still dominant in stores, but digital payments are catching up fast.
In-store, digital wallets account for 17% of US point-of-sale value – well below the global average of 33%. But don't let that gap mislead you. Wallet adoption at the physical point of sale is growing at nearly three times the rate of overall POS growth. Apple Pay and Google Wallet are driving most of that momentum, and PayPal announced an expansion to physical stores in late 2025.
Online, digital wallets have already taken the lead at 40% of e-commerce value, ahead of credit cards at 32%. For any business selling online, that shift has already happened. If your checkout doesn't make it easy to pay with a wallet, you're already losing customers at the moment of truth.
Is buy now, pay later worth offering to your customers?
Increasingly, yes. Buy now, pay later (BNPL) accounted for 6% of US e-commerce value in 2025 and is forecast to grow at 13% annually through 2030. Globally, BNPL has grown 130-fold since 2014 – from $2.3 billion in transaction value to an estimated $300 billion – and the trajectory continues upward.
What's changing is the breadth of offering, as well as who’s offering BNPL. It’s increasingly easy to access – built into digital wallets and embedded in card-backed installment plans. For businesses of all sizes, the practical question isn't "should I add a BNPL provider?" but rather "does my payment setup support the installment options my customers are already using?"
Merchants who offer flexible payment options convert more sales. Customers who might hesitate at a full price point often complete the purchase when installments are available – and they're more likely to return.
What does frictionless payment actually mean for your business?
The most important finding in GPR 2026 isn't a specific number. It's a direction.
Across every market studied, consumer expectations are converging around the same thing: Payments should feel effortless. The complexity – the card networks, the instant payment rails, the wallet integrations – should be invisible to the customer. They should tap, click or scan, and it should just work.
"Across every market studied, consumer expectations are converging around the same thing: Payments should feel effortless."
For large enterprises with dedicated payment operations teams, achieving that is a significant investment. For smaller businesses, it means choosing the right payment partner – one who handles that complexity on your behalf, so you don't have to.
That's what Worldpay is built for. Whether your customers are paying in your store, on your website or through an app, the right infrastructure ensures every payment method your customer prefers is one you can accept – reliably, securely and without friction.
In a market moving this fast, the one thing every business can control is what happens at the moment of payment. Make it effortless, and you keep the sale. Make it complicated, and you may not get a second chance.
Download the GPR 2026 for an in-depth look at how consumers pay across the world.
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