• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, March 10, 2015

People who use mobile payments are more likely to pay their bills online, make online purchases for personal use and check the weather on their phone.

These are just a few of the new insights from the MRI Survey of the American Consumer by research firm GfK.

The study is based on interviews with 25,000 U.S. adults in which consumers record their consumption of more than 6,000 products in 600 categories.

The study looked at the overall activities of those who used a digital wallet such as Apple Passbook, Google Wallet, MasterCard’s MasterPass, Square Wallet or Visa Checkout during the previous 30 days.

After sifting through the massive treasure trove of consumer behavioral data, courtesy of GfK, an interesting portrait of digital payment users can be painted.

Of those who use digital payments, the majority also paid their bills online, made an online purchase or obtained the latest news. They were not as likely to go online for parenting information or use Skype.

Here’s the breakdown of what mobile payment users did online:

• 64% - Paid bills online
• 60% -- Made a purchase for personal use
• 56% -- Used Facebook
• 55% -- Obtained the latest news
• 43% -- Looked for recipes
• 42% -- Obtained financial information
• 41% -- Played games online
• 26% -- Made personal or business travel plans
• 21% -- Looked for employment
• 19% -- Made a purchase for business use
• 16% -- Skype
• 7% -- Obtained childcare or parenting information

In terms of devices being used, the digital payment consumers were pretty evenly split, with 40% using Android phones and 38% using iPhones.

And what they used their phones for varied widely, from checking the weather to purchasing products to cashing in mobile coupons. Here’s how they use their phones:

• 57% -- Visited a website for weather
• 54% -- Visited or used a social networking site
• 53% -- Visited a website for directions
• 47% -- Visited a website
• 38% -- Searched for product information
• 35% -- Visited a website for sports
• 32% -- Purchased a product
• 20% -- Redeemed a mobile coupon
• 20% -- Signed up for a text message alert service
• 19% -- Watched a downloaded or streamed TV program
• 18% -- Scanned a QR code
• 11% -- Listened to a podcast
• 8% -- Watched a full-length movie

Those using mobile payment services seem comfortable with digital banking, with most (74%) saying they would be happy to use the internet for day-to-day banking transactions.

While many companies focus on getting consumers to use their particular payment service, the mobile consumer is busy doing many other things with their phones.

For them, making a mobile payment is not the end game. It’s just part of their overall mobile phone usage.