The global pandemic has forced Billions to change their behaviors — how they interact, how they manage their money, and how they make payments. In September 2020, in partnership with Propeller Insights, Marqeta surveyed 2,006 Americans to find out how this last year has impacted consumer buying habits and the payments landscape as a whole. Mobile wallets have been called the “next big thing” in payments since Apple Pay was introduced in 2014. Consumer and merchant adoption rates of digital wallets told a slightly different story, however, with adoption growing steadily but falling short of the hype. This all changed when the world changed in 2020. Mobile wallet adoption has surged in the last year, becoming one of the preferred consumer payment methods throughout the pandemic. I invited Vidya Peters from Marqeta onto the show to explore the report and learn more about how mobile wallets are now at the forefront of the evolution of payments. As the Marqeta Chief Marketing Officer, I also learn how Vidya was named #1 on the Top 25 Women Leaders in Financial Technology list. Marqeta is the first global modern card issuing platform, providing the most advanced infrastructure and tools for building highly configurable payment cards. With its open API, the Marqeta platform is designed for businesses who want a simple and tailored way of managing payment programs so that they can create world-class experiences and power new modes of commerce.