It is no secret that the battle for your mobile wallet is well and truly underway. Google have been trying for a couple of years to convince users to adopt their Google Wallet solution. More recently, Apple Pay has seen its launch and comparison to Google Wallet, has seen rather healthy adoption rates. Not to mention, even more recently, it was reported that Samsung was purchasing LoopPay with a view to integrating the technology into their upcoming devices. While it was also reported earlier today that Google had managed to secure a deal with the major carriers for a reimagined version of Wallet. So, there can be little room left for doubting that manufacturers see mobile wallet payment as a realistic future option.
Well, a report recently published by Walker Sands (source link below) seems to agree with that notion. The report notes that while only 8% of consumers used a mobile payment option in 2013, that number significantly grew last year, to where 40% of people were noted as using a mobile payments. The report also shows that while the recent news suggests Google are in somewhat trouble when it comes to Wallet, the figures by Walker Sands suggest it is not as bad as people may think. Of the 40% noted using a mobile payment in 2014, 45% of those did use Google Wallet to make those payments. This seems to be a trend which is likely to continue in the coming year with Walker Sands also noting that 59% of consumers report carrying less than $20 in real money with them anymore.
However, in spite of what seems to be a significant increase in adoption of mobile payments, the report also does highlight consumers are still uncomfortable with the idea of digital payments. In fact, the report suggests that as many as eight out of ten consumers are hesitant in using mobile payments. The main concerns with the new payment medium seems to be ‘security’ and ‘privacy’. Of the two, security seems to be the most concerning being mentioned 57% of the time, while privacy was not that far behind, being accounted for 47% of the time as the reason for being cautious. If you are interested in knowing more, then you can read the report in full by clicking the source link below.