Tag: mobile payment technology

Participants in an online survey reveal that they believe a cashless future is on the way.

Harris Interactive has released the results of its most recent survey, which has indicated that among adults in the United States, well over half believe that mobile payments will replace both cash and credit card based transactions at some point down the road.

Over 30 percent of the respondents said that the replacement would occur in five years from now.

The survey was performed online from November 14 through 19, with the participation of 2,383 respondents. Each were adults and they all lived in the U.S. When asked about the replacement of credit cards with mobile payments, the 66 percent believed that this would one day occur. That said, only 32 percent of the participants felt that this would occur within the next half decade.

The mobile payments survey also looked into the replacement of cash with smartphones.

The results of the poll showed that the participants felt nearly the same way about cash as they did about credit cards in terms of their replacement by mobile payments technology. In fact, 61 percent of the respondents said that they felt that one day, we would no longer use cash because of our smartphone devices. However, only 26 percent believed that this will have happened in five years’ time.

The survey findings identified several different reasons that can explain the hesitation that consumers have regarding the use of mobile payments transactions. These can help to explain why adoption of the technology has been as slow as it has.

The survey presented the participants with a number of different reasons from which they could choose, in order to explain why they would hesitate to use mobile payments for making purchases. The answers included – but are not limited to – the following:

• Over half (52 percent) are content with their credit cards and/or cash so they don’t see a need to change.
• 51 percent expressed concerns over mobile security in terms of financial and private data.
• Half didn’t own a smartphone.
• 40 percent didn’t trust the security of entering mobile payments information into a merchant’s device.

eBay expects m-commerce to become a major tool for the retail industry

Last month’s Thanksgiving shopping weekend has provided mobile commerce with a huge amount of credibility, especially among retailers that have been looking to engage mobile consumers in a dynamic way. Indeed, that single shopping weekend may have provided mobile commerce with enough momentum it needs to become the most preferred tool of the retail industry. eBay, one of the world’s largest online retail entities, believes that mobile commerce is reaching the point where it may replace more traditional forms of commerce and even e-commerce itself.

Mobile business growing exponentially

Steve Yankovich, vice president of mobile for eBay, recently spoke with CNBC concerning the growth of mobile commerce. According to Yankovich, mobile growth has significantly exceeded the company’s expectations. Four years ago, mobile commerce was little more than an idea. Now, eBay expects to see mobile sales on its eBay Mobile platform exceed $10 billion within the next few years.

Convenience may be a major driving factor behind m-commerce

The key to the success of mobile commerce may lie in the convenience of the concept. Consumers are becoming increasingly reliant on their mobile devices to function in daily life. As this trend picks up momentum, consumers are beginning to look for ways to turn their smart phones and tablets into payment platforms for the sake of convenience. A mobile device can, with the proper software, serve as a type of digital wallet, storing a consumer’s financial information, coupons, tickets, and other such virtual items in a singular space. This allows consumers to access all this information quickly and efficiently.

Competition on the horizon

The success of mobile commerce does not mean clear sailing ahead for eBay or the other companies that are investing heavily therein. Companies are expected to begin heavily competing with each other for a significant share of consumers that are interested in mobile commerce. eBay has a decent head start thanks to its PayPal unit, but Google and Isis are expected to begin appealing to more consumers as time goes on.