For Mobile Banking, It Pays to Know Consumers
In his latest Point Of View, Tony Smith, Global Head Financial Services at Ipsos Loyalty, looks at recent developments in the fast-moving mobile payments space.
A few examples that may point to the future include:
- Paym in the UK enables consumers to pay friends and family using only their cell phone number.
- eBay’s Venmo allows people to exchange payments within their social circles via smartphone.
- American Express enables eligible members to tap and pay with the new Jawbone device.
- Apple Pay was launched at the end of last year with much fanfare.
Tony also unveils learnings from a segmentation study among mobile device users in 24 countries which gives a sense of consumers’ perspectives on these developments.
The research found 5 factors which influence consumer attitudes:
- The degree of scepticism
- The level of understanding & awareness
- The need for technical support
- Willingness & intentions
- Payment security
Based on these factors, the survey identified 4 segments of consumers: the Confident, the Open, the Disengaged, and the Cautious.
So how can businesses encourage usage of mobile payments?
- They should prioritise what as providers they want to do for each segment.
- Create appropriate communications through usage scenarios.
- Provide technical support: the “How” needs to be easy.
- Understand consumers' needs, motivations and barriers to create messaging and positioning.
