Providing HSA and FSA stakeholders with simple, transparent and reliable payment solutions they can trust
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) play a significant role in helping consumers take better care of their health and take greater control over their finances. In fact, 56% of surveyed users said they would cut back on medicines and treatments if they didn’t have an FSA, according to the most recent report from Visa’s longitudinal FSA and HSA user behavior study, which draws on biannual surveys conducted for more than a decade running.¹
Many HSA and FSA users want simple and safe transactions when paying for the healthcare products and services they need. Whether it’s at the provider’s office, the pharmacy, online or elsewhere, reducing user friction at checkout and delivering a modern consumer payment experience can help increase member satisfaction and engagement with their benefits.
Card programs can help drive account utilization
When it comes to healthcare payment experiences, minimizing complexity and confusion can be essential. HSA and FSA cards offer a simple and transparent way to use prepaid health funds that can often be significantly faster and more efficient than traditional reimbursement processes. Cards continue to be the dominant form factor for FSA accounts; 91% of surveyed FSA users have a card and 75% of users prefer to use card to access their FSA funds.¹
However, users expect HSA and FSA cards that work just as easily as any other card in their wallet — simple, safe, digital and frictionless. 41% of surveyed FSA card users prefer Tap to Pay, and 21% prefer to link their FSA card to a digital wallet. 83% of HSA card users say they would recommend others to get an HSA, citing that it’s an easy, fast and safe way to make a payment.¹
Benefit administrators and technology providers can help drive card program utilization and increase top-of-wallet position by providing innovative digital solutions (like digital wallet provisioning) that deliver the modern payment experiences consumers want — along with the training and support consumers need to maximize use of their HSA and FSA cards.
Enhancing healthcare payments experiences from end to end
HSA and FSA cards can help eliminate reimbursement and pay-and-chase processes for many purchases — streamlining user experiences and significantly reducing administrative burden for benefit administrators and technology providers. The easier it is to pay and be paid, the more confident consumers may feel about using their accounts, which can help drive higher satisfaction and continued use of their broader benefits offerings. But designing the right solution can require a nuanced understanding of each organization’s benefits strategy and their consumer population.
Some benefit administrators and technology providers may want to focus on delivering a more full-spectrum payments experience to help drive HSA and FSA cards to top-of-wallet status. Many may likely look to do so by providing digital provisioning capabilities, along with easy-to-use spend management tools like expense tracking, balance alerts and app-based transfers. Others may be more focused on strengthening their fraud risk management capabilities by incorporating additional fraud protection features like advanced account authentication that help mitigate rising fraud risks while also giving consumers an increased sense of security in their purchases. Finding the right partner with the right approach to payments security can be critical to improving risk protection while maintaining smooth, simple member experiences.
Awareness and education are critical to driving engagement and card utilization
As the healthcare ecosystem continues to expand, it is likely that digital payments will go hand-in-hand with an increasingly virtual consumer experience. To help drive program enrollment and increase spend on benefit cards, benefit administrators and technology providers should look to provide consumers with more targeted education on both the value of HSA and FSA plans, and guidance on when and how they can use their cards, and what purchases are eligible.
For FSA users a lack of awareness about how their accounts work, including carry over guidelines and which items are eligible for reimbursement, can leave consumers hesitant to use available funds. For FSA users, this can result in higher forfeitures at the end of the year: nearly 1 in 3 FSA users (32%) forfeited money from 2023, with an average amount of $463 forfeited.¹
Consumers are hungry for this education and guidance. Almost all surveyed HSA users (96%) expressed interest in learning more about their HSAs through additional education.1 Targeted communications should meet consumers where they are today, based on age and information preferences; email, in-app alerts, and social media campaigns can all help HSA and FSA users stay engaged and informed about how to maximize the value of their accounts. 29% of surveyed HSA users said they would like to learn more through social media.1 In-app store locators and checkout prompts are examples of educational offerings that can help further drive use of HSA or FSA cards.
A trusted partner in advancing your healthcare payment solutions
Visa has more than two decades of experience helping to drive HSA and FSA payments solutions forward across debit and prepaid cards and other digital payments rails. Visa Commercial Healthcare Solutions offers a 1:1, consultative approach that helps our healthcare industry partners build highly effective strategies for growing HSA and FSA programs. Visa offers solutions for organizations of all sizes, from de novo fintechs to Fortune 500 enterprises, with targeted insights and offerings for benefit administrators, technology providers, financial institutions, employers and merchants. All powered by one of the most recognized and trusted names in payments.
Visa’s solution design leaders bring deep industry expertise and a commitment to industry-leading research and innovation, from our ongoing user behavior study to some of the industry’s most recent advancements in fraud risk management.
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- Visa, 2024. Healthcare FSA & HSA Research. Research was commissioned by Visa, conducted by Material+ through a 15-minute online survey, fielded October 14-15, 2024.
The research was conducted by Material+ as part of Visa’s ongoing bi-annual FSA/HSA research program. The purpose of the research is to keep a pulse on FSA and HSA engagement, perceptions, and usage over time to identify opportunities and barriers among Current and Prospective FSA/HSA users. Methodology: 15-minute online survey, commissioned by Visa, conducted by Material+ and fielded October 14-15, 2024. FSA sample size: 1,506 (1,206 Users; 300 Non-Users), U.S. men and women, ages 25-64, employed FT, not in a sensitive industry, aware of FSAs. HSA Sample Size: 1,250 (900 Users; 350 Gen Pop Non-Users), men and women, 18+yrs, employed, but not in a sensitive industry, with a separate nationally representative omnibus to track HSA awareness and ownership. Statistical confidence level: 95%.
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