We’re counting down the days until 2020, which promises to be the biggest year yet for the digital wallet. While mobile wallet payments accounted for $75 billion in 2016, this number is forecast to reach $500 billion going into 2020. And according to predictions by Visa, “By 2020, many people could be leaving their wallets behind” in favor of their mobile phones.
With these trends in mind, in conjunction with the increasing demand for digital convenience, 2020 is going to be a big year for museums, zoos, aquariums, and other member organizations to adopt digital membership cards. Read on to explore 4 trends that make 2020 the year to go digital!
1. Consumers Are Rapidly Embracing the Mobile Wallet
In 2020, mobile wallet usage is predicted to rise. Indeed, an increasing number of consumers are using their mobile wallets to store credit card, debit card, and loyalty cards. According to a recent study by Paysafe, the majority (54%) of American consumers have used a mobile wallet to make a payment. Additionally, the vast majority (85%) of current mobile wallet users said they would be using their mobile wallet much more for making payments by 2020. And, those numbers are only focused on payments – they don’t account for how many people store loyalty cards, membership cards, boarding passes, event tickets, in their mobile wallet with greater frequency.
Major players in the business sector are also increasingly offering mobile options, which consumers are rapidly embracing. This year, for example, Costco introduced digital membership cards for their nearly 100 million members! This year, too, Bank of America introduced a digital-first debit card, and just this week, Mastercard launched its first digital gift card, accessible via the mobile wallet.
With all these digital options, consumers are becoming increasingly familiar with and dependent on their mobile wallets, and they expect these conveniences across the board. A whopping 59% of customers say companies need cutting-edge digital experiences to keep their business, and they’re not patient about it either – 45% of Millennials said technology has made them more impatient than they were five years ago.
For museums, zoos, aquariums, and other organizations with robust membership programs, it’s important to stay on top of these trends and serve the needs of their mobile-dependent consumer base. Consumers are rapidly switching to digital membership cards, loyalty cards, gift cards, and credit cards in all areas of their life – and they want them for your organization too!
Don’t believe us yet? This year, Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens rolled out digital membership cards. They were such a popular option that Morikami has already achieved a 60% adoption rate! Your organization can be next!
2. Attract Millennial Donors
Colleen Dilenschneider, one of the leading market researchers focused on the culture and attractions sector, recently published an article on millennial donors.
According to this recent piece by Dilenschneider, she and millennial donors like herself “have purposefully discontinued memberships because of print mail.” In her own words:
“I am quite certain that my memberships to upwards of 15 cultural organizations in the last five-ish years have unintentionally demolished entire forests – and I’m angry about it. I didn’t realize that by supporting cultural entities, I was signing up to pollute the air and water and diminish natural resources.”
The data is here to support this. According to a study by the Shelton Group, 70% of Millennials say that a company’s environmental practices affect their decision to support a business or organization, and other sources say a whopping 90% of millennials will buy from a brand whose social and environmental practices they trust.
Digital membership cards can help you eliminate the paper and plastic resources as well carbon footprint related to physical membership cards. They can also store information about member benefits, reciprocal admissions, expiration dates, and even be used to send push notification reminders and special promotion information, vastly decreasing the hassle and environmental costs involved with direct mail.
All of this is what millennials want more than ever going into 2020! Take a look at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver. They offer a special membership program for young adults called the Broken Heart Club. Among this membership group, nearly 55% of members downloaded their digital card right after rolling out the option! Whoop whoop!
3. Save the Environment and Save Money
For cultural organizations, physical membership cards continue to be a huge source of paper and plastic waste, not to mention a burden for staff and volunteers tasked with stuffing envelopes full of card renewals and direct mail membership information.
Many organizations have already made huge strides to be more environmental by monitoring their levels of waste, energy consumption, and water, becoming LEEDS-certified, and updating their business practices. This is especially important for zoos, aquariums, gardens, nature centers, and other organizations whose missions focus on conservation
As Wanda Evans, former chair of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Green Scientific Advisory Group, wrote in 2016:
“Saving animals starts with saving habitats, and by choosing to act responsibly in our business practices, we provide support for our field conservation work around the world and our conservation education programs at home. We cannot, as an industry, be serious about saving wildlife without being serious about natural resource conservation.”
Digital membership cards are one of the quickest and easiest ways to conserve natural resources in your membership program operations. 2020 is the year to say goodbye to pesky plastic!
That’s not to mention how much money you can save in the process. Cheekwood Botanical Gardens is a shining example of the financial impact digital membership can have. Going digital not only drastically reduced its environmental impact; it also saved $50,000 by eliminating production, mailing, and labor costs associated with physical cards. This kind of savings is well within your reach if you go digital this year!
4. Enhance the Customer Experience
Digital membership cards offer a way to personalize and improve members’ experiences to ensure a lasting good impression and support for your organization.
According to research by IMPACTS, two of the biggest factors contributing to dissatisfaction among high-level members are solicitation telephone calls not being treated as “special.” Digital membership cards make it possible to eliminate these annoyances for members and create a positive membership experience end-to-end.
For example, studies show that push notifications are well-received and have a high-open rate, making them an excellent strategy to provide members with information like their upcoming membership expiration date – without irritating them with phone calls, voicemails, and letter reminders!
Digital membership cards also open up new doors for your members to enjoy a personalized and “special” experience while visiting your organization and at home. Along with receiving personalized information and notifications through their digital membership card, using beacons onsite will allow you to trigger notifications that appear on the visitor's phone as they wander around your venue, providing members with realtime information on their membership so they can realize the full potential of their member benefits. With digital membership cards, members will be kept up to date on the extent of their members perks and be able to enjoy all that their membership offers, keeping them happy, satisfied, and more likely to renew and donate.
2020 promises to be the biggest year yet for the mobile wallet and digital membership cards. We can’t wait to welcome new members to the Cuseum family as they embrace this innovative trend!
Interested in learning how digital membership cards can benefit your organization in 2020? Schedule a free consultation with Cuseum today.