Munich, February 7, 2023. The photo payment feature enables users to pay bills fast and easily. All it takes is a snap from the invoice, and the payment information gets automatically extracted and transferred into the form. This feature and its advantages are now known to 40 percent of Germans. Half of the 35- to 44-year-olds (52 percent) are familiar with this feature; among the younger ones (18 to 34 years), 44 percent are. These are the results of a representative survey* by Gini, conducted by YouGov.
Familiarity with photo payment is also linked to other socio-demographic characteristics. For example, 36 percent of one-person households are aware of it, while half (50 percent) of four-person households are. However, familiarity with photo payment increases not only with household size but also with income: while only 26 percent of those earning less than 1,000 euros a month are aware of the feature, among those earning between 5,000 and 10,000 euros a month, a peak value of 67 percent is reached. Direct bank customers are more likely to know about the photo payment (53 percent) than branch bank customers (38 percent).
Photo payment users are young and live in a larger household
Besides speed and simplicity, convenience is also one of the advantages of the photo payment feature. There is no need to type in the recipient’s details manually, which also avoids typing errors. Currently, 43 percent of the mobile banking users who stated in the survey that they were familiar with photo payment benefit from these advantages.
Families, in particular, rely on the feature: 55 percent of mobile banking users from households with four or more people who know about photo payment use it, compared to only 34 percent of those living alone.
It is especially the younger generations who use the feature: half (51 percent) of 18- to 34-year-old mobile banking users who know about photo payments take photos or scan bills. From the age of 55, the figure drops to 36 percent.
However, when older generations use photo payment, they do so particularly often: most mobile banking users who pay bills by photo 2 to 3 times a month are 45 years and older (40 percent). In comparison, 25- to 44-year-olds are less active: most use photo transfers less than once a month (31 percent). Men are more likely to use photo payments. Most (33 percent) use them 2 to 3 times per month. For the most part, women use it less than once a month (33 percent).
High levels of satisfaction with photo payments
The users of photo payment are very satisfied with the feature: overall, 9 out of 10 users (91 percent) are very or rather satisfied. However, the feature is particularly appreciated by older people. The satisfaction rate rises to 95 percent from the age of 45.
“Mobile banking users value a variety of banking features that help complete processes quickly and easily. The very high satisfaction with the photo payment shows us that this feature is already an important part of mobile banking,” said Holger Teske, CEO and co-founder of Gini GmbH.
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*The data used is based on an online survey conducted by YouGov Deutschland GmbH on behalf of Gini, in which 2,091 people participated between 2 and 5 December 2022. The results were weighted and represented the German population aged 18 and over.
