Tag: mobile credit cards

Among the primary barriers to paying via smartphone has been a concern that it is not secure.

Although mobile payments are becoming increasingly popular among smartphone and tablet users, they are still not increasing in use at the rate that many in the industry had predicted, despite its broad availability.

Among the main concerns that consumers have expressed is in the form of worries over its security.

That said, Zapp, a mobile payments provider, has now released a report that says that using smartphones to complete purchase transactions is actually safer than buying something over an e-commerce website. Within the report, the company explained that people using this type of service can better “…carry out secure transactions…” than would be possible if they were shopping at the typical online commerce website.

Zapp feels that mobile payments can allow a consumer to shop with the same security as they would with other transactions.

According to David Emsworth, a spokesperson for Zapp, the smartphone based payments ecosystem is undergoing an evolution that should make it possible for a consumer to use a mobile wallet with the same confidence in its safety and security as they would have when using any other transaction platform.

That said, Emsworth does admit that among the reasons that mobile wallets have not yet faced the types of usage popularity that would draw as much attention to them from hackers as has been created by credit cards. As there aren’t that many users, there aren’t as many criminals out there who are targeting the method.

Potential thieves aren’t yet spending the type of time and effort on cracking mobile wallet systems and platforms as they are on systems that have a considerably larger usage base. That said, as this type of transaction becomes increasingly mainstream, it is unavoidable that those thieves will start to place more of a focus on those smartphone based platforms.

Therefore, while Zapp may be right in saying that mobile payments are currently actually a safer method of shopping than submitting a credit card number into an e-commerce checkout system, it is unknown as to whether or not that will remain the case as consumers start to use these digital wallets on a larger scale.

The results of a recent study show that people expect wallet apps to become commonplace by 2017 to 2019.

Although there have been doubts with regards to the mainstream use of mobile payments in the United States due to the “slow” rate of adoption by merchants and consumers, a recent study shows that shoppers do feel that the regular use of these digital transactions is not long off. A survey was conducted by Mobile Commerce Press which revealed that the majority of people expect that mobile wallets will be as mainstream as plastic credit cards at some time between 2017 and 2019.

Changes in methods of payment away from cash have a long tradition of slow uptake.

Most people today are very comfortable and, overall, are quite satisfied by the experience that they receive through the use of credit cards at the checkout counter. But this was not always the way. Plastic credit cards were actually first invented in the 1920s. They didn’t become popular until the 1950s. When considering that three decade gap, the expectation that mobile payments will take between 5 and 10 years to become is not necessarily as lengthy as it might seem.

As more mobile wallets are unveiled by large players, such as Google, telecom companies, and Apple, consumers are becoming more aware of what they have to offer, and the types of benefits that they could enjoy.

According to the editor of Mobile Commerce Press, Loreen Worden, “Mobile payments would be one more step away from the reality of how much we spend,” and went on to say that “in fact mobile payments would be a boon for credit cards.”

Mobile payments will be convenient for consumers and could be tremendously beneficial to credit card companies.

Worden stated that she feels that the credit card industry should be pushing mobile wallets more than they actually are due to the spectrum of advantages it has to offer them. The lack of plastic card manufacturing and distribution, on its own, has great cost saving potential, however, there is a psychological element that Worden feels should not be overlooked.

She pointed out that as is the case with other cashless forms of spending, there is a psychological detachment between spending and the understanding of how much money is actually being spent. When cash is used, the consumer can watch the amount of money reducing in his or her wallet. However, with credit cards and mobile payments, a mental record needs to be kept. The amount of total available funds shrinks, but not right before the spender’s eyes. This is exactly the type of effect that leads to the largest profits for credit card companies.

Key findings from the Mobile Commerce Press survey:

• 30.3 percent of participants feel that mobile payments will be mainstream by 2017 to 2019.
• 20.5 percent think that they will be commonplace by 2015.
• 18.9 percent feel that 2016 will be the year of mobile wallets.
• 11.5 percent said that by 2017, they would be commonplace in the US but that the rest of the world will be mainstream by 2015.
• 11.5 percent said that 2020 will be the year in which the whole world considers these transactions to be mainstream.
• 5.7 percent felt that smartphones would never become a typical form of payment, and that credit cards will always rule.

Mobile Commerce Press is a Los Angeles, California based news magazine that was established online in 2012. Its writing team regularly posts articles that share the very latest in cutting edge mobile technology, m-commerce, mobile payments and wallets, marketing, and other important trends relating to smartphones, tablets, and wearable technology devices.