Tag: mobile wallet app

American mobile payments are ready to go mainstream

According to Bank of America research, consumers are increasingly prepared to adopt this technology.

If Bank of America is correct, American mobile payments will be commonplace very soon. Their research suggests that consumers in the United States are increasingly ready to use this technology.

Mobile wallets are nothing new in the United States but they have yet to take off among most people.

Bank of America conducted a survey to gauge consumer opinions regarding American mobile payments. What they found was 40 percent of respondents were actively seeking out mobile wallets or already had them. This is a sizeable increase over last year’s figure. In 2015, only 34 percent of respondents felt the same way.

Clearly, there was a sharp increase in the number of actively interested Americans. This interest level is considered to be an important indicator of willingness to adopt the technology. That said, the respondents didn’t stop at simply looking into mobile payments technology.

The American mobile payments interest could move forward rapidly starting very soon.

American Mobile Payments - Bank of America Center in Austin TexasThe research determined that 57 percent of Americans would be willing to try or are already using a bank peer to peer (P2P) money transfer app.Also, 62 percent are already using mobile as their main banking method or would be willing to try it.

The active mobile app user numbers also climbed. Forty eight percent of respondents were using mobile banking apps in 2015. This year, that figure increased to 54 percent. Furthermore, Millennial interest in these mobile banking tools is very evident. That generation represents a growing proportion of shoppers as a whole. This makes their opinions on such matters highly significant.

Millennials use their smartphones more than any previous generation. In fact, 39 percent say they would prefer to interact with their mobile phones than anything or anyone else. This included their significant other! American mobile payment have the potential to become very important to this generation. Moreover, since they are one that is about to become the most important group of consumers, this information is important. After all, no matter what previous generations think, it is the Millennial opinion that will soon hold the most weight.

Mobile wallet industry still led by Apple Pay and Samsung Pay

A recent report from BI Intelligence indicated that smartphone payments are still dominated by the same tech giants.

Mobile wallet tech using contactless payment technology will be used by approximately 148 million people around the world, said a new report that was published by Juniper Research, which also claimed that this format will be the leader in mobile device based transactions.

That said, it is clear that within that limited space, there are clear leaders that have already carved out their positions.

The Juniper Research report identified Apple Pay and Samsung Pay as the two top mobile wallet brands that have grabbed hold of the largest share of the smartphone payments market. In fact, together, they are believed to hold a 70 percent share of the number of customers who use that type of contactless payment service in stores. This suggests that those two firms could be the dominant figures in this market and may be able to keep a firmer hold on their portion of that space than newer entrants or older ones that have not been as successful at gaining user-ship.

Apple Pay leapt into the mobile wallet space quite strongly as it had been a greatly anticipated service.

Mobile Wallet - Mobile PaymentsIt launched as one of the first major entrants into the American market, which helped to ensure that it would build users more quickly than smaller players or later joiners. While Samsung didn’t arrive nearly as early, it still held onto a competitive advantage in the fact that it can be used at both NFC technology based terminals and those that are compatible with a magnetic stripe card. In Apple’s case, the mobile payments service can connect only with NFC readers.

Firms invested in mobile payments are pushing hard to gain U.S. customers, but adoption has been slow. Most consumers have yet to be convinced that there is any great benefit to using their smartphones instead of their plastic credit cards, which they already find to be quite convenient. Moreover, many people still face the barrier of comfort when it comes to feeling that their sensitive personal data will be kept secure.

Moreover, the adoption of NFC technology based contactless payments is also holding back widespread use in the United States, as only 20 percent of American terminals are actually equipped to accept transactions through those mobile wallets.