Consumers are keener to adopt mobile wallets than many businesses realize, according to a global survey of 2,000 consumers and 300 executives conducted in August by NTT DATA, a business and IT services provider.
The survey found a third of consumers expect mobile money will dominate payments within a decade. And whereas 40% of executives across multiple industries think people will pay for transactions in 10 years much as they do today, only 27% of consumers expect the payment landscape to remain unchanged.”While consumers’ enthusiasm for a cashless, cardless future is encouraging, “user adoption of mobile payments has not come close to the numbers many of us in the industry predicted five, three, even two years ago,” sayid Sam Maule, director, Digital FSI at NTT DATA Consulting. In the U.S., he adds, mobile will not overtake cash and plastic until standards are adopted to improve security and convenience for consumers. “The results of our study clearly validate the expectations and challenges facing mobile payments adoption,” he says.
The study, “Future of Money,” carried out in partnership with Ingenico ePayments, Oxford Economics, and Charney Research, examines trends in cash usage and electronic payments worldwide. The results suggest companies may not be moving quickly enough to offer the high-tech payment options consumers want.
Other important findings from the study include:
Companies mistakenly assume customers are wedded to cash
- More than half (51%) of consumers think cash use will decline in the next three years
- Consumers are least cash-dependent in the U.S. and Europe. Only 20% of Americans’ monthly spend is in cash
- Nearly a third (31%) of executives think mobile money does not apply to their business
- Among businesses that don’t accept mobile payments, 41% say it is because customers prefer paying by cash or check. But 70% of consumers would like to be able to make travel, entertainment, technology, retail, and healthcare purchases with their mobile phone or tablet
- Only 35% of executives think cash use will decline in the next three years
- Consumers place nearly identical value on acceptance, security and convenience as the drivers of mobile payment adoption
All business executives recognize advantages of mobile money
- 77% of U.S. business leaders see the cost advantages of mobile money
- 83% say mobile money improves the customer experience
- More than half of all executives surveyed say mobile money boosts loyalty
Younger executives have a clearer vision of the mobile future
- Nearly 80% of millennial business leaders (18-34) believe accepting mobile money boosts or would boost sales, compared with 51% of business leaders over 50 years old
- 71% of millennial business leaders say failure to do so puts them at a competitive disadvantage