As the infrastructure for widespread use of in-store mobile payments locks into place across the U.S., adoption could be accelerated through better consumer education on the performance and ease of use of mobile pay services, according to a recent Verifone survey.
Conducted online by Wakefield Research among 1,000 adults aged 18 years and older, the survey took place during the holiday shopping season, between Dec. 16-23, timed to coincide with maximum consumer interest in retail payment options.
More than half of respondents (53 percent) said it was important for more stores to install devices that enable consumers to pay with their smartphones, indicating wide receptivity to mobile pay options once they’re provided. The response was significantly higher among younger consumers; 64 percent of respondents aged 40 and below agreed that more stores should install devices that allow customers to use smartphones to pay.
Additionally, 84 percent of respondents said they would use their smartphones to pay for small and medium purchases, such as a cup of coffee or pair of jeans.
The survey also showed that half of consumers polled were unfamiliar with mobile technologies such as near field communication (NFC) and mobile wallets. Similarly, half of respondents said they were unlikely to shop in a store because it used in-store tracking technology to provide offers on mobile devices.
“This is a classic case of new technologies needing to reach critical mass before consumers come on board,” said Joe Mach, senior vice president and general manager of vertical solutions at Verifone. “Today, in 2015, the pieces are fitting into place – what’s essential now is for the industries driving the mobile payment revolution, from finance to retail to systems providers, to educate consumers on mobile payment’s benefits and easy use.”
The following are other key findings from the study:
- Credit/debit cards remain the primary method of payment for 63 percent of all survey respondents, with 6 percent favoring alternative payment options such as PayPal, and 4 percent preferring mobile wallet services.
- A total of 54 percent of survey respondents are familiar with EMV technology (a joint effort initially conceived among Europay, MasterCard and Visa to ensure the security and global interoperability of chip-based payment cards). Of this group, 39 percent use credit or debit cards that have EMV chips as their primary or secondary payment method; among respondents under 40 years of age, 49 percent use credit or debit cards that have EMV chips as their primary or secondary payment method.
- More than half of respondents (56 percent) are willing to continue shopping at a store whose credit card information was stolen; the number of consumers who are less likely to continue shopping at such a store was 44 percent.
- Among the advantages cited of using smartphones instead of traditional payment methods, speed of use ranked first (34 percent), followed by freedom from carrying a wallet (29 percent), access to mobile deals (24 percent), ease in tracking spending (23 percent) and safety of personal data (18 percent).
“The survey data illustrate a typical early-adopter scenario – high awareness among younger consumers, which is the essential precursor to mass-market adoption,” said Mach. “The mobile payment industry is an industry on the cusp, with so many components essential to success, such as EMV and ApplePay, coming into focus for the first time, and delivering real value to the end user.”
