Happy customer scanning her smartwatch on a credit card machine to pay her bill in a cafe. Cheerful woman doing a cashless and contactless transaction using NFC technology.

Generation drives digital payout preferences: Carat study

A new study from Carat indicates that older and retired Americans are more likely to prioritize security, and millennials prioritize the speed of payment delivery in digital payment preferences.

Robert Clayton, VP of Carat Digital Payouts at Fiserv, wants to share more on the recent Carat research and how digital payouts may evolve further in 2023.

Carat, the market brand of their corporate enterprise offering owned by Fiserv, polled 2,200 U.S. adults this past summer. The study was done to understand how consumer perceptions and viewpoints vary across industries and demographics.

Robert Clayton headshot
Robert Clayton

Digital payouts move funds from a business to a consumer quickly. Consumer expectation is to receive money faster, and businesses with high volumes of B2C payments jumping on board.

He says, “the overall volume of B2C payments is growing at a double-digit rate every year.”

Fiserv, via Carat, and other technology providers offer innovative solutions to streamline B2C payouts for businesses to take advantage of the growth opportunity.

What payout options can Carat enable businesses to offer these customers?

  • Bank transfer- direct deposit (most preferred)
  • Pay to a debit card
  • Pay a digital check
  • PayPal account
  • Venmo account
  • Pay to a Coinbase wallet
  • Pay to their own Fiserv money network card

From the study, Carat found older and retired Americans are more likely to prioritize security (40%), and millennials prioritize the speed of payment delivery (29%). Older adults have spent their lives only receiving physical checks as payouts, so moving money to them in real-time may be much more appealing. Likewise, for young adults, receiving funds digitally fits their real-world expectations for moving money quickly. However, both want convenience and choice.

Robert Clayton says for 2023, “Fiserv is working on globalizing its payouts offering, with completion expected in the first quarter of next year. Expanding beyond U.S. payouts will enable businesses to payout funds digitally to consumers in thirty-five to forty countries.”

Payouts have been successful in insurance claims (38%), company owners when paying payroll, and gaming companies (29%).

Also, anyone who works as a Lyft driver or a waiter and can “tip out” at the end of their shift or someone even selling goods across marketplaces can get paid now. For merchants, offering multiple payout options makes meeting each customer’s needs easier, especially when managing their funds.

Carat working with merchants who offer B2C payout options increases customer fulfillment and saves money. According to Carats data, digital payouts are up to 60% less expensive than traditional checks and wires, and digital payouts can drive up to a 25% reduction in payment status inquiries.

Same-day funding is growing. The instant payout for a small business accelerates the funding cycle and removes the need for a business owner to wait 2-3 days to receive funds from credit card receivables.

Have there been any issues with Carat’s digital payouts?

Clayton noted that a key to success with digital payouts is mitigating any risk of payout fraud. “We’ve successfully limited fraudsters’ ability to abuse this type of functionality by integrating our data and fraud detection tools to help our customers be confident that they are paying the right person. We’ve helped several companies knock down sophisticated fraud attempts that have tried to take advantage of this capability.”

“We’ve expanded our fraud mitigation tools beyond traditional methods and data sources like credit bureau data. We are also using device identity and much more advanced digital techniques to build an identity,” said the VP of Carat Digital Payouts, Fiserv, “If the identity isn’t consistent, we’ll block the payout.”

  • Ricquel Newman

    Ricquel Newman is a freelance journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior she was a past journalist for the award-winning consumer news unit, "Seven On Your Side" at ABC7 News in San Francisco. During her 15-year career with ABC News, she produced, managed, and handled all social media for the department. A two-time Emmy Nominee for undercover investigations and light news story features. She is a past radio producer for The Costa Report, a nationally syndicated radio show. Ricquel has a strong passion for news, writing, and creating. She also started her own PR Company at one point. She studied Radio and Television with an emphasis on Broadcast Journalism at San Francisco State University.