New survey finds mobile banking, payment apps continue to grow in popularity among higher ed students

11/3/2022 7:30 PM

LENEXA, Kan. – TouchNet, a Global Payments (NYSE: GPN) company, recently published its annual Student Financial Experience Report 2022, which indicates the percentage of students who use mobile banking and payment apps is increasing.

In this year’s survey, 80 percent of respondents stated they use mobile banking to pay bills or transfer money. This is an increase of seven percentage points since the same question was asked in 2020. Seventy-three percent of students use mobile banking to make deposits. 

Beyond mobile banking, an increasing percentage of students report using digital wallets such as Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. In the 2022 survey, 25 percent of students said they used Apple Pay sometimes or often, which equates to a 56 percent increase year over year. The percentage of students using Google Pay doubled year over year to 12 percent.

TouchNet President Adam McDonald encourages institutions of higher education to enable mobile transactions across the campus experience: “Conducting everyday financial transactions and banking through smartphones and other mobile technology has become the preferred consumer experience among students,” said McDonald. “Universities and colleges need to be prepared to meet student expectations when it comes to how they pay for things.”

When asked specifically about payment features within their college or university app, 67 percent of students rated the ability to make and manage payments as important, but only 23 percent said they actually use their campus app to pay for things. McDonald attributes this to a lack of awareness or availability of this functionality, an assessment that is backed up by survey results that show only 36 percent of students reported knowing that paying for things through a campus app is an option. 

“The upward trend of payment apps and mobile banking demonstrates that higher education students are comfortable with and prefer to use digital payment methods when available,”  McDonald added. “Unfortunately, we find that students may not be aware of features that allow them to make payments directly from their campus app, or their institution hasn’t enabled those functions.”

In addition to exploring topics such as usage habits of digital payment methods, the Student Financial Experience Report 2022 covers preferred payment methods for tuition and everyday purchases, how students use mobile apps to navigate the campus experience, and general behaviors with digital technology. TouchNet analyzes the annual results to help inform the direction of new solutions that will simplify the student experience. Download the full Student Financial Experience Report 2022 here.

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About the Report
The Student Financial Experience Report reviews data gathered from a ten-minute, online survey utilizing accepted standards of statistical practice. Conducted annually since 2020, 300 university and college students are surveyed each year. Respondents are required to be smartphone owners 18 or older currently enrolled at a higher education institution, and represent a cross section of first year undergraduate students through graduate students from a variety of large and small, public and private institutions. The survey and report are sponsored by TouchNet.

About TouchNet
TouchNet, a Global Payments (NYSE: GPN) company, unifies campuswide payments and ID management software solutions for institutions of higher education around the world. Colleges and universities rely on TouchNet to integrate and secure payments, permissions, and other related business transactions for a comprehensive, actionable view campuswide. TouchNet’s unmatched integration, transparency, and security gives institutions greater control over transactions, costs, and compliance. As the market leader in higher education commerce technology, our platform-driven approach enables greater operational efficiencies and self-service access to real-time information for students and staff. TouchNet is a Global Payments (NYSE: GPN) company.