Tue, 04/01/2014 – 07:51 by Admin Two surveys independently released in the past couple of weeks indicate growing demand for and consumer experience with mobile payments. One survey
released by Verifone (n=1,000) found that 55% of respondents were interested in mobile payments, with higher percentages (70%) of “millennials” expressing interest.
In that survey the motivations or perceived advantages of paying with a smartphone included:
- Mobile deals: 45%
- Track spending: 45%
- Faster: 34%
- No wallet: 28%
A separate survey released by
Local Corporation (fielded by the eTailing Group, n=1,294) asked a range of questions about mobile user behavior. Among them were several questions about mobile payments.
The survey found that 27% of consumers had used their smartphones to pay for an in-store purchase at some point. However the materials and discussion released didn’t indicate how “in-store” was defined (did it include Starbucks, for example?). Reasons for not using a “mobile wallet” were security (44%) and privacy (36%).
When asked what brands consumers trusted to manage mobile wallets and mobile payments, consumers said:
- Visa: 24%
- PayPal: 21%
- Apple: 15%
- Amazon: 13%
- Amex: 7%
- Google: 6%
It’s not clear whether the findings immediately above are statements about the brand in general or indicate any direct experience of usability. The mobile/offline version of Google Wallet in its current form is essentially a dead product.
Apple and Amazon have not yet fully entered mobile payments but are going to do so. Apple has filed
patent applications that indicate its intention to get into mobile payments, with its more than
600 million consumer credit cards on file.
We have argued that mobile payments are entering the mainstream through vertical or specialized apps that contain a commerce elment but with offline fulfillment — Uber, AirBnB, OpenTable are examples. We should continue to see mobile payments “mainstream” and gain increasing momentum over the next five years.
