By Chuck Martin
When it comes to mobile payments, it may come down to the haves and the don’t wants.
In a new nationwide snapshot, almost a quarter (22%) of consumers say they have apps for mobile payments while the majority (61%) not only don’t have any but say it makes no difference.
Roughly one in 10 said they wish they had mobile payment apps, according to a survey by the Apigee Institute. More people (39%) wish they had an app for remote car starts than one for mobile payments.
The Digital Impact survey or 1,000 smartphone owners was conducted to assess how mobile devices and apps are affecting their everyday behaviors, tasks and attitudes.
Respondents’ region, age, income, education and gender distribution reflects the U.S. smartphone market based.
The study found that more consumers wish they had an app for tracking home energy use, remote for turning on lights or real-time emergency support over mobile payment apps.
And while 22% who have apps for mobile payments would recommend them, 5% have them but would not recommend them.
And that study is not the only indicator of the lack of mobile payment interest, at least from the consumers’ perspective about using them while shopping.
In a survey of 25,000 consumers in five countries (US, UK, France, German, Spain), Bain & Company found that awareness of mobile payments is high but only a quarter of those surveyed are willing to use their mobile device for in-store payments.
Many of the respondents (40%) said they were unwilling to move to mobile payments since they don’t see the need for changing their payment behavior.
From a consumer desire and acceptance standpoint, mobile payment apps seem to be on an uphill climb.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the mCommerce Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily MobileShopTalk column. He is the author of “Mobile Influence,” “The Third Screen,” and “The Smartphone Handbook.” He is CEO of Mobile Future Institute. Chuck Martin is a frequent Mobile Keynote Speaker and Mobile Marketing Speaker internationally. He also addresses Social Media in Mobile.
