Tag: mobile payments trends

Security issues in mobile payments create adoption barrier

Consumers continue to worry about the safety of using various types of smartphone based wallet and transactions.

According to the results of a recent One Poll survey, only 1 percent of device users actually feel that using a third party mobile payments provider provides them with adequate security to keep their data safe when making a purchase in-store.

The survey involved the participation of 2,011 people throughout the United States and United Kingdom.

The research was conducted by One Poll, but it was commissioned by a company called Tripwire, which provides security and compliance solutions. It found that only about 1 in every 100 people feel that mobile payments, such as those provided by Google Wallet and Apple Pay – among others – are adequately secure to keep their sensitive data safe. In the United Kingdom, 53 percent of respondents felt that using a credit cards was the safest way to make a purchase online. Conversely, only 37 percent of American consumers felt the same way.

Consumers continue to be concerned about using mobile payments, particularly when even large corporations experience security breaches.

Mobile Payments Security ConcernsIn the United States, 26 percent of consumers felt that using an internet connection that is wired is more secure for processing online payments transactions than using a wireless one.

According to the Tripwire director of IT security and risk strategy, Tim Erlin, “Consumers are understandably concerned about payment card security after a long swath of breaches. Mobile wallet providers aren’t immune to that sentiment, and it certainly doesn’t seem to be going away.” He also added that it could be possible for those providers to succeed within this market by placing a more central focus on security within their marketing. Erlin feels that consumers are ready to use the smartphone payments technology if they are given a message that will allow them to feel more confident about the security of that tech.

The research also determined that the “lock icon” is an indication that online transactions will be processed security, among 62 percent of the survey participants. Moreover, 47 percent of the consumers from the United States checked the URL to see if SSL is being used by the page. Only 15 percent of the respondents from the United Kingdom did the same thing.

The study suggests that to overcome a major barrier to the adoption of mobile payments, consumers will need to be reassured that their data will be processed much more securely than they feel is currently occurring.

Consumers say mobile payments will be mainstream in 3 years

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.

Mobile Payments Mainstream in 3 YearsWorden 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.