Category: Mobile Payments

Consumers are slow to warm to the mobile commerce space

Mobile transactions are slated to see strong growth in the United States this year, but the mobile commerce space may be facing significant challenges that could be difficult to overcome. A recent study from eCash shows that approximately on 20.7% of people in the United States make use of the new Apple Pay service. Other services may be popular among consumers as they have been around longer, but many consumers may simply be uninterested in mobile payment services, largely due to security concerns.

Apple Pay users do not frequently use the service to make purchases

Of those using Apple Pay, approximately 56% use it only once a week. Another 15.3% say they have never used the service. While consumers consider mobile payments to be convenient, there are numerous reasons why they are not using their mobile devices to purchase products. Security may be the most significant concern that consumers have as the mobile commerce space has become a target for malicious groups that want to exploit consumer information for their own gain.

Security remains the greatest concern among consumers

Security is the biggest barrier preventing consumers from using mobile payment services. According to a report from eMarketer, 57% of Internet users in the United States cited security concerns as the main reason they did not use mobile wallets. Another 62% of smartphone owners in the country said that they do not plan to use mobile wallets because of worries regarding the security of their information.

Lack of a global standard slows the adoption of mobile payments among consumers throughout the world

Security is not the only problem facing the mobile commerce space. Currently, there is no global standard governing the mobile payments space. There are no common interfaces that makes mobile commerce universally recognizable among consumers. Once a global standard is set, however, it will allow consumers to use any application to shop online and in physical stores, using their devices to make purchases that they are interested in.

Online shoppers may find it much more convenient to employ their devices for making digital payments.

Visa has now stepped forward in ensuring that its digital Checkout for payments through electronic and mobile commerce will be more friendly to customers using smartphones and tablets as it will allow purchases to be completed by simply sliding a virtual image of their plastic credit cards across their device screens.

This has been done in the hopes that it will provide better competition with its rivals in this market.

The Visa Checkout digital payments service was first launched in 2014 and is meant to take on PayPal within the e- and mobile commerce space. Retailers offer this option with an embedded button on their apps and sites, making it possible for purchase payments to be made without ever having to navigate away from their current location. The original format of the service meant that users would need to enter a username and password on the screen in order to complete a mobile payment transaction. However, the newest feature has eliminated that step and has further streamlined the entire process.

To complete a mobile commerce checkout, users swipe and image of their card to the right before entering a password.

According to Visa, pilot tests of the m-commerce payments service have shown that the swipe feature makes shoppers twice as likely to complete the checkout process instead of abandoning their carts.

At the first launch of this service, the button will be available only to merchants who are selling digital products and services or that have items that are purchased online so that a customer can pick it up at the nearest store location. That said, Visa has stated that it will be expanding its service within the next few months in order to make it possible for merchants to sell products that will be shipped to their customers.

The senior vice president of digital solutions at Visa, Sam Shrauger, discussed this new mobile commerce feature and said that “This new experience brings digital payments one step closer to the ease, trust and familiarity that consumers have long valued from Visa in the physical world.”