Who's afraid of mobile payments?

Who’s afraid of mobile payments?

Well, apparently we in Britain are.  In our October 2011 Global @dvisor online survey conducted across 17 countries*, under a quarter of mobile phone users in Great Britain, France and Germany showed an interest in using Near-Field Communication (NFC) or smartphone apps for retail and person-to-person mobile payments.  This is compared to over a third in Poland and Turkey, and up to two thirds among the BRICs. Security concerns are often attributed as the reason for this reticence on making payments using a mobile phone.  Panellists at the World Card Summit on 15 November 2011, including representatives of payments market leaders such Visa Europe, MasterCard Worldwide, Gemalto and Oberthur Technologies, argued that it is the perception of lack of security as opposed to the actual security of mobile payments that is the issue.   With 69% of our global sample of 13,461 mobile phone users agreeing that “I would need a guarantee that the payments on my mobile will be secure”, mobile payments providers are addressing this.  For both the Quick Tap mobile service and its contactless cards, Barclaycard are protecting consumers from fraudulent misuse on low value payments.  Regardless of whether it is perceived or actual security, consumers require reassurance for increased interest and adoption. However, it may not only be security which holds consumers back from mobile payments.  Only 13% of British mobile phone users agreed that “It is clear to me which companies are providing mobile payments services”, and 14% agreed that “I know which types of mobile payments services are available to me”.  With launches or planned launches by Visa, PayPal, the Mobile Money Network and the joint venture by the three leading UK network operators, it is no wonder that there is confusion over what the mobile payment ecosystem will look like.  Do consumers know that their phones can be NFC-enabled in different ways? Do they even know how a mobile wallet app can potentially benefit them? More importantly, do they know who they can ask about mobile payments? With the launch of Barclays Pingit and other imminent launches in 2012, it is important to understand if the mindset of consumers can change, and how financial services providers, network operators and retailers can best leverage opportunities in this area.  Apart from understanding brand leadership, knowledge on mobile payments and security issues, Ipsos is launching the first wave of the Ipsos Mobile Payments syndicated study in Q1 2012 to investigate what else consumers think about mobile payments in Britain and beyond.  Armed with this research, we want to enable mobile payments providers to help consumers be more comfortable with mobile payments.

• * Note: Ipsos fields its monthly online Global @dvisor syndicate survey in 24 countries.  In October 2011, we asked mobile payments questions in 17 countries to 468-1,010 respondents per country.  Drawn from a general population sample per country, we interviewed mobile phone users aged 16 – 64 years of age, with the exception of China and India where the sample is made up of more affluent adults who use a mobile phone.  Results were weighted to provide equal weighting to each country based on 500 interviews per country.