Mobile payments is growing slowly among consumers

Unfamiliarity with payment platforms is slowing the adoption of mobile commerce

Wakefield Research has released a new survey that it has conducted on behalf of Verifone. The survey is focused on the mobile payments space, which has been experiencing a period of aggressive growth over the past year. Many people have shown interest in mobile payments, but the survey suggests that the actual adoption of new payment services is somewhat slow. People appear to be unfamiliar with these payment services, which place them somewhat outside the realm of mobile commerce.

50% of consumers report that they are unfamiliar with mobile payment services

According to the survey, some 50% of consumers polled noted that were unfamiliar with mobile payments. Many claimed that they did not know about services like Apple Pay or how these services work. Mobile wallets were a relatively unheard of platform among these consumers as well, suggesting that their familiarity with other payment services was quite low. Those that were aware of mobile payment services, however, noted that Google Wallet was their preferred platform.

Lack of mobile payment support among retailers is slowing adoption

The survey also shows that those that are interested in mobile payments are still restricted in actually making transactions from their mobile devices. While there are many opportunities to shop and pay for products online from a mobile device, making mobile payments in physical stores is relatively rare. Many retailers lack the point-of-sale terminals they need to accept mobile transactions, which limits the capabilities of mobile consumers.

Consumers may become more involved in the mobile commerce space in the coming years

A recent survey conducted by Lightspeed Research suggests that unfamiliarity with mobile payments may diminish over the coming years. The survey noted that 42% of people made a mobile transaction at some point in 2014, up from the 17% of people that did so in 2012. A report from eMarketer suggests that 25% of smartphone users will make a mobile payment by 2018. As consumers become more familiar with payment platforms, they are likely to begin participating in mobile commerce more frequently.