45% of UK consumers prefer direct debit for subscription payments
GoCardless published research on the payment preferences of consumers around the world for recurring purchases, conducted by YouGov.
The study found that almost half of UK consumers (45%) were likely to choose direct debit to pay for their subscriptions online, compared to almost a third (32%) who were likely to choose a debit card . However, in a look at the top 29 subscription websites in the UK, including Amazon Prime, HelloFresh and Spotify, none of them currently offer customers the option of direct debit. In contrast, 100% offer credit / debit cards, 62% offer PayPal, and 3% accept mobile payments.
The research also found that:
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19% of UK consumers were likely to pay by credit card for online subscriptions and 16% by digital wallet;
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43% of UK consumers were ‘very unlikely’ to use credit cards for recurring online purchases;
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for traditional subscriptions, 48% of UK consumers would prefer to pay by direct debit, compared to a third (33%) who would likely choose a debit card and 12% who would opt for a digital wallet;
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for household bills – 47% of UK consumers said they were likely to pay by direct debit; 54% were “very unlikely†to do so with digital wallets;
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for installment payments – 52% of UK consumers said they were likely to choose direct debit, compared to 32% for debit cards, 21% for credit cards and 11% for digital wallets.
GoCardless surveyed 12,785 consumers in countries representing two-thirds of the global volume of recurring payments (UK, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand). Globally, variation in payment preferences is as much related to culture as it is to technology. For example, in the United States, checks are still a popular payment method for paying household bills. In Germany, cash is still king, as 40% are “very unlikely†to use credit cards and 29% think the same for debit cards.
However, a unifying theme was that over 30% of consumers globally were likely to choose direct debit / direct debit to pay for their subscriptions online in the majority of international markets (9/10) – North America. being the only exception (19%).