San Francisco, CA, April 25, 2017: 110 million (44%) consumers made a digital P2P transaction in 2017. This figure is expected to rise to 173 million by 2022 – a whopping 50% expansion in consumer penetration. Driving this explosive growth has been mobile P2P, which has grown at more than twice the annual rate of the overall P2P market and is now almost as large as the online segment. The fastest growing portion of the mobile P2P market has come from bank-independent, or standalone, mobile P2P apps, often leading in offering desired features and capabilities. 

Javelin Strategy & Research today announced its first annual Mobile P2P App awards and scorecard report. The report, 2018 Mobile P2P App Scorecard: Creating a Foundational Block of a Multiproduct Consumer Relationship, evaluates 10 standalone mobile apps available from both Google Play and the Apple App Store. Javelin examines over 100 mobile P2P features across six different categories, including ease of use, money movement, account opening, customer service, people and social, and security empowerment.

“P2P mobile payments are being used as a foundational block to build out a multi-product consumer relationship,” said Michael Moeser, Director of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research. ”Some use P2P to drive user engagement, while others use it to encourage online and in-store purchases. As a result, basic P2P functionality is now table stakes and offering a compelling mobile app has never been more crucial.”

Venmo was the overall winner of Javelin’s 2018 P2P Mobile App scorecard. Venmo led the pack winning in three out of the six categories evaluated – ease of use, account opening, and people & social. PayPal was a leader in money movement and security empowerment (tie) categories and Google Pay Send was a leader in customer service and security empowerment categories (tie).