With the pandemic-drive e-commerce boom, Plutus digs deep into consumer payment trends
LONDON — Plutus (http://www.plutus.it/), the world’s first decentralized reward system, today announced the results from its 2020 UK Consumer Payment Trends Survey, which was conducted on October 28-29 to evaluate how the pandemic is changing online shopping behaviors, what makes consumers prefer one payment method over another, and how consumers value different loyalty rewards, such as cash back or cryptocurrencies.
With the pandemic expected to boost the U.K.'s e-commerce market this year by £5.3 billion (or approximately $7 billion USD), the results from this survey will provide valuable insights into current consumer sentiment and future market demands as online shopping, digital payments and cryptocurrencies continue to converge.
“One of the more interesting discoveries we found when looking at the data was the sharp increase in crypto awareness and ownership in the UK, as compared to some of the figures that were made public a few months ago,” said Danial Daychopan, CEO & Founder of Plutus.it. “This is exciting because outside of cash rewards, most loyalty reward points go unused and ultimately, it’s the consumer who loses out. Based on this data, and the surprisingly high crypto literacy rate of the UK audience, it's safe to assume that crypto loyalty rewards will soon become a new standard offering across debit and credit card providers.”
Key findings from Plutus.s 2020 UK Consumer Payment Trends Survey include:
- Online shopping has increased exponentially this year, due to COVID. More participants 18-29 shop online several times a day than any other age group; those over 60+ took the lead in maintaining the same frequency of online purchases when compared to last year.
- Debit cards and PayPal are the preferred payment methods for online shoppers in the UK. Debit cards are more popular among shoppers 18-29 and 45-60, while PayPal is more popular among shoppers 30-44 years old or 60 and older. Among those who shop frequently, debit cards are the #1 payment method.
- Cash back rewards remain king among UK shoppers. When deciding which payment method to use, consumers consider cash back as a key factor in using one payment method over another.
- Crypto literacy in the UK is higher than expected. 85.63% of survey participants have heard of Bitcoin or Ethereum. The ownership of cryptocurrency is dominated by participants aged 18-29, leading the next age group, 30-44 by more than +4%. Compared to the United States, the UK market may be taking more than a 6% lead in crypto ownership, +2% lead when benchmarked against global ownership.
- When it comes to crypto, respondents in the UK would rather earn than buy. A majority of participants prefer earning cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH as loyalty rewards points rather than buying it, mining it or earning it as part of their salary.
About Plutus
Plutus (https://plutus.it) combines the ease of modern banking with access to crypto currencies. The finance app consists of a UK account or a European IBAN to manage fiat & crypto in a non-custodial wallet. It includes a decentralised exchange to swap between both asset types, and a rewarding Visa Debit Card. Every time a user spends with their Plutus Card, they earn 3% back in crypto (PLU), staking PLU unlocks additional rewards (up to 15%) at selected household brand names.
Plutus prides itself in being the creator of decentralised loyalty rewards and DeFi Card concepts. Founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneur, Danial Daychopan, Plutus is now used by tens of thousands of users across Europe.
