Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults – March 2023

A credentials vault aggregates payment 
information and stored credentials in a secure 
environment. It automatically updates the 
payment information shared with merchants 
when consumers update their payment 
methods or change account numbers. As 
a result, when a consumer receives a new 
payment card, for example, they only need 
to update a single source and do not need 
to painstakingly reenter payment information 
for every merchant one at a time. These 
applications also encrypt card information so 
that the data would be useless to fraudsters 
in the event of a security breach.

MARCH 2023

 

TRADITIONAL FIs FIGHT DIGITAL 
ALTERNATIVES FOR CONSUMER TRUST 

WHAT IS A CREDENTIALS VAULT?

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02     |     Introduction

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Six in 10 consumers currently store credentials to pay for 

subscriptions and online purchases. This number is even 
higher among the millennial and high-income demographics, 
of which 68% and 65%, respectively, use stored credentials 
when making these payments. While some consumers still 

painstakingly enter their payment information every time they submit a 
payment, there is a clear need for the convenience a credentials vault 
would offer. 

Consumers, however, are picky about who they would trust to admin-
ister a credentials vault, even if using one would make payments easier 
for them. The most popular option for consumers remains their own 
banks, but a substantial number would also be interested in allowing a 
name-brand FinTech or even a non-financial institution (non-FI), such as 
Amazon or Google, to administer a vault. Getting consumers to the point 
where they are ready to adopt these services, however, will require ed-
ucation and reassurance that these services are safe and trustworthy.

For Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults, PYMNTS surveyed a census- 
balanced panel of 2,313 United States consumers from Jan. 20 to Jan. 
23 to learn about their experiences with credentials vaults, who they 
would trust to run a vault and whether they would allow a marketplace 
or business to access their information when using one.

This is what we learned.

TABLE   

OF  

CONTENTS

Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .03

Key findings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .04

Conclusion and methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

CONSUMER 

INTERST IN 

CREDNTIALS 

VAULTS: 

 

TRADITIONL FI

s  FIGHT DITAL 

 

ALTERNTIVES FOR CONSUMER TRST

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Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults    |     05

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04     |     Key findings

More than half of consumers who regularly 

pay online using stored credentials say they 

would use a secure credentials vault for most 

or all their online transactions.

We found that 46% of consumers who used stored credentials 
to pay for 75% or more of their subscriptions or online pur-
chases are highly interested in vault use. Furthermore, 51% of 
these consumers say they would use a vault for most or all of 
their transactions. 

Generally speaking, interest in using a credentials vault cor-
relates with having experienced more issues with payments in 
the past, such as having a payment declined because the card 
information was outdated. Consumers who have experienced 
these issues with their payment credentials are nearly twice 
as likely to be interested in payment vaults than those who did 
not experience issues. Forty-three percent of consumers who 
experienced issues when paying with stored credentials are 
highly interested in using a vault, compared to 25% of those 
who did not experience issues.

PART I:  

OPENING THE DOOR TO NEW PLAYERS

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06     |     Key findings

Consumers trust the providers they transact online with most 
to provide a payments vault — their bank, PayPal and Amazon. 
Ultimately, 45% of consumers cite their primary banks as the 
institution they trust most to provide credentials vault ser-
vices.

Trust in tech companies such as PayPal or Amazon to provide 
a vault has increased since September 2022. In September 
2022, 40% of consumers trusted PayPal to provide a vault, and 
37% trusted Amazon. These shares increased in January 2023, 
reaching 49% for PayPal and 43% for Amazon.

Consumers continue to say they trust their primary banks to 
provide a credentials vault, far more so than non-FIs such as 
Amazon or PayPal. Fifty-nine percent of consumers trust their 
primary banks to provide a vault service, and 45% consider 
them the provider they would trust the most to provide this 
service.

Interestingly, consumers more interested in using a vault tend 
to trust non-FIs more than banks to provide this service. 
Among highly interested consumers, 64% would trust a non-FI 
or FinTech to provide the vault service. Among those who are 
just slightly interested in using a vault service, the share drops 
to 46%.

Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults    |     07

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Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults    |     09

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Figure 2A
Who consumers trust to provide vault services
Share of consumers who say they would trust select companies to provide a credentials vault

Primary bank

PayPal

Amazon

Apple

Google

Microsoft

eBay

A bank that is not mine

A FinTech

Another provider

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

58.5%

57.0%

58.5%

48.7%

44.0%

40.2%

43.3%

39.8%

36.9%

30.9%

27.0%

29.4%

30.2%

27.4%

29.3%

17.5%

15.0%

17.0%

12.2%

10.8%

11.6%

5.8%

5.4%

7.5%

3.2%

3.1%

4.2%

0.9%

6.2%

4.4%

January 2023

November 2022

September 2022

Source: PYMNTS
Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults: Traditional FIs Fight Digital Alternatives for Consumer Trust, 
March 2023
N varies by month surveyed; N = 2,313: Complete responses in January 2023, fielded Jan. 20, 2023 – 
Jan. 23, 2023

Made with

08     |     Key findings

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10     |     Key findings

Figure 2C
Who consumers trust to provide vault services
Share of consumers who say they would trust select companies to provide a credentials vault, 
by level of interest in using a vault

Source: PYMNTS
Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults: Traditional FIs Fight Digital Alternatives for Consumer Trust, 
March 2023
N varies by month surveyed; N = 2,313: Complete responses in January 2023, fielded Jan. 20, 2023 – 
Jan. 23, 2023

5.5%

2%

1.3%

0.8%

Primary bank

PayPal

Amazon

Apple

Google

Microsoft

A bank that is not mine

eBay

A FinTech

Another provider

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

36.0%

48.2%

54.1%

24.7%

18.1%

19.1%

12.4%

13.8%

10.2%

13.3%

8.8%

7.7%

6.7%

4.8%

4.7%

2.4%

2.0%

1.2%

1.3%

1.5%

1.0%

1.0%

1.5%

1.4%

1.3%

0.3%

0.5%

0.8%

1.0%

0.2%

Very or extremely interested

Somewhat interested

Slightly or not at al  interested

Made with

Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults    |     11

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Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults    |     13

© 2023 PYMNTS All Rights Reserved

12     |     Key findings

12     |     Key 

More robust data protection and better 

checkout experiences are the main reasons 

consumers want to make payments using 

credentials vaults.

Consumers who trust their bank to provide a vault are par-
ticularly interested in data protection. Thirty-six percent of 
consumers consider stronger data protection the most im-
portant feature of using a vault. Those who would trust their 
primary banks to provide the service are more likely to feel 
this way, at 43%.

While data protection is also the most important feature for 
consumers who trust a FinTech or non-FI to provide a vault, 
more than two-thirds of FinTech and non-FI users say fast 
checkouts are a key feature influencing their interest in a vault. 
In contrast, 58% of those who would prefer to use vault ser-
vices from their primary bank believe fast payments are the 
most important feature.

PART II:  

BUILDING A VAULT WORTH TRUSTING

Consumers who use stored credentials to pay for 75% or 
more of their subscriptions or online purchases are more in-
terested in non-security-related features than those who use 
stored credentials for a lower share of purchases. Sixty-seven 
percent of consumers who use stored credentials for 75% or 
more of their purchases consider fast payment processing a 
key feature influencing their usage of a vault. For consumers 
who use stored credentials to pay less than 50% of the time, 
the share drops to 56%, indicating that fast payment process-
ing motivates these consumers significantly less. After all, the 
more consumers pay with stored credentials, the more inter-
ested they are in streamlining the payment process.

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14     |     Key findings

Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults    |     15

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Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults    |     17

© 2023 PYMNTS All Rights Reserved

16     |     Key findings

Currently, just 2 in 10 consumers would switch 

to shopping with online merchants that accept 

payments from a credentials vault, indicating 

a need for vault providers to educate 

consumers.

Fifty-four percent of consumers say they would trust FinTechs 
or non-FIs to provide a vault, and 33% of these consumers 
would switch to merchants that link to a vault service. 

In contrast, just 14% of those who say they prefer traditional 
banks would be very or extremely likely to switch. Forty-eight 
percent of consumers who say they find it very or extremely 
difficult to track their stored credentials are highly likely to 
switch, with convenience and ease of use serving as a draw for 
these consumers. 

Consumers with five or more stored credentials are more likely 
than consumers who store fewer credentials to switch to a 
merchant that offers a vault, indicating that the ideal vault- 
using consumer is a consumer who already regularly stores 
data and wants greater convenience and security along with 
these services they already use. 

PART III:  

THE VAULT USER OF THE FUTURE

However, given the low number of overall consumers who 
would consider shopping online with a merchant that accepts 
payments from a credentials vault, it is necessary to educate 
consumers about these options and be able to offer them 
secure options they can trust.

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18     |     Key findings

Figure 4A
Consumers are open to using vaults offered through FinTechs and Non-FIs
Share of respondents who would most trust select companies to provide credentials vault 
services, by demographic

Source: PYMNTS
Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults: Traditional FIs Fight Digital Alternatives for Consumer Trust, 
March 2023
N = 2,313: Complete responses, fielded Jan. 20, 2023 – Jan. 23, 2023

5.5%

2%

1.3%

0.8%

Sample

Baby boomers and seniors

Generation X

Bridge millennials

Millennials

Generation Z

More than $100K

$50K-$100K

Less than $50K

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90 100

46.1%

32.1%

21.8%

67.0%

19.3%

13.7%

45.7%

30.4%

23.9%

33.3%

38.4%

28.3%

32.5%

40.0%

27.5%

37.2%

42.4%

20.4%

44.3%

37.4%

18.3%

48.3%

30.6%

21.1%

45.9%

27.1%

27.0%

Traditional bank

Non-FI

FinTech

Generation

Income

Made with

Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults    |     19

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© 2023 PYMNTS All Rights Reserved

Credentials vaults offer consumers safer, more stream-

lined and more convenient ways to store and update 
payment credentials and make payments. Vaults are 
becoming more common, but consumers are often still 
unaware of their benefits, which could help streamline 

payment processes and make them more secure. Increased efforts to 
get the word out are necessary to grow the popularity of these ser-
vices, whether administered by a bank, a FinTech or a non-FI. As these 
services become more widespread, it will be up to these providers to 
prove they can offer these services securely and find a way to give 
themselves a unique path to compete in the market. As the market 
matures, these firms and traditional banks will likely continue their 
battle for customer trust and attention.

Consumer Interest in Credentials Vaults: Traditional FIs Fight Digital Alternatives for 
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DISCLAIMER

Consumer Interest in Payments Vaults: Traditional FIs Fight Digital Al-
ternatives for Consumer Trust, an independently produced report from 
PYMNTS, is based on a survey of a census-balanced panel of 2,313 
U.S. consumers conducted between Jan. 20 and Jan. 23. Respondents 
were 48 years old on average, 52% identified as female and 32% held 
college degrees. We also collected data from consumers in differ-
ent income brackets: 36% of respondents reported earning more than 
$100,000 per year, 31% earned between $50,000 and $100,000 and 
33% earned less than $50,000.

METHODOLOGY