Tag: inside secure

Inside Secure finds that consumers are using their mobile devices to get their holiday shopping done

A new survey from Inside Secure shows that holiday shopping is having a major impact on mobile commerce. The survey found that 51% of holiday shoppers prefer using a mobile app when they are purchasing products. Doing so is seen as more convenient, as they are able to avoid large crowds when shopping online or accelerate the checkout process when they visit physical stores. Using mobile devices in physical stores, however, is less popular among consumers than using these devices to shop online.

Security concerns keep some consumers away from mobile commerce

According to the survey from Inside Secure, many consumers do not use their mobile devices to pay for products in physical stores because they have security concerns. Some 70% cited identity theft and payment fraud as the reason they avoid mobile commerce in physical stores. Shoppers have also expressed concerns regarding their privacy, as past cyber attacks focused on retailers have highlighted how easily some malicious groups can acquire consumer information and exploit this data for personal gain.

Mobile shopping is on the rise as holiday season approaches

While consumers have concerns regarding security, many believe that mobile commerce is the wave of the future. The mobile commerce space is experiencing healthy growth, powered by the holiday shopping seasons of past years. This year, some 39% of mobile consumers are planning to make an in-store purchase with their smartphones, an increase from the 33% that did so last year. A greater portion of consumers are planning on purchasing products online, using their mobile devices as their primary shopping platform.

Younger consumers are more comfortable with mobile commerce

Notably, the survey found that mobile commerce is most popular among those between the ages of 18 and 44. This demographic tends to be more comfortable with mobile technology, having had a great deal of experience with smartphones and the digital world. The survey also found that iOS users are more likely than their Android counterparts to participate in mobile commerce over the holiday season, making use of Apple’s new mobile payments service, Apple Pay.

VaultSecure aims to transform mobile commerce

INSIDE Secure, a  mobile security firm, has launched a new platform called VaultSecure that will help consumers manage multiple mobile wallet applications on their smart phone or tablet. The company believes that the VaultSecure platform will help transform the mobile commerce industry. INSIDE Secure suggests that this will be the first time that smart phone makers, network operators, and others in the telecommunications industry will be able to share a secure element on a single mobile device.

Days of clashing mobile commerce applications may be history

Before VaultSecure, smart phones were only capable of supporting a single mobile commerce application without trouble. Multiple applications on a single device would often cause problems due to the clashing security features they have in place. In some cases, multiple mobile commerce applications could actually make financial information more vulnerable, thus leading many mobile network operators to favor a particular platform over others. This has led to severe fragmentation within the mobile commerce market.

Platform allows various applications to coexist on a single device

This fragmentation can be seen all over the world. In the U.S., Google, Isis, and the newly formed Merchant Customer Exchange, are all vying for the affection of consumers and businesses interested in mobile commerce. Through SecureVault, the applications coming from these groups can coexist on a single mobile device, each able to access a consumer’s financial information independently. The platform will also encrypt this information for each of the mobile commerce applications, adding an extra layer of protection against malicious attacks.

Competition may prove to fierce for VaultSecure to find traction

INSIDE Secure will be selling VaultSecure to makers of smart phones and tablets. These companies will then have to work with the various companies involved in mobile commerce to incorporate the platform. Given the highly competitive nature of the burgeoning mobile commerce industry, it may be difficult to convince companies that having their platform exist alongside that of their competitors as a sound business move.