A new study from the Pleasanton, Calif.-based Javelin Research +Strategy underlined two facts: digital wallets continue to gainpopularity with consumers and, said Javelin analyst Mary Monahan, “This is a fight for credit unions to win—orlose.”

Javelin said that for many consumers, their financialinstitution is where they want to find their digital walletsolution.

“They trust their financial institutions. Whatever wallet their[credit union] comes up with is the one they will adopt,” Monahansaid.

The report also said many financial institutions have lagged indeploying working wallets while non-banks like PayPal and Google have been steadily growing their usage.

“The financial industry narrative is that nobody wants a mobilewallet but that is not true,” said Javelin Research AssociateDaniel Van Dyke, a study co-author. “There is a strong incentive toget into this now. The mobile wallet space is not static.”

The Javelin study also revealed the velocity of the marketmomentum.

“In the past 90 days, 21% of smartphone owners have used amobile wallet such as Google Wallet or Apple Passbook,” the studysaid. “When consumers were polled about using a mobile wallet inthe future, 30% of smartphone owners (22% of all consumers) saidthey were likely or very likely to use a mobile wallet in the next12 months.”

The study also said the most likely age group to target forpotential users is Gen Y, which consists of consumers between theages of 25 and 34. Of that group, the study said 34% said they werelikely to adopt a mobile wallet in the next 12 months, compared toall consumers at 22%.

Additionally, the study found that 28% of consumers making morethan $150,000 annually are likely to adopt mobile wallets in thenext year.

“One in three will use a mobile wallet in the next year and iftheir financial institution does not offer one, they will goelsewhere,” Monahan said.