Security fears ‘putting people off’ contactless mobile payments
Consumers are still wary about contactless mobile payments
Nearly half of smartphone users do not want to use their device to make contactless payments, mostly because of fears about security, according to a new survey.
According to the study, which was carried out by YouGov on behalf of business process management company Firstsource Solutions, 47% of respondents did not want to use their phone to make a payment, with 81% saying they had concerns about security about this type of payment. Nearly 30% of people also felt contactless payment would make no improvement compared to existing technologies, the survey of 2,000 adults found.
Other key findings of the study were:
- Men are substantially more likely than women to be willing to use their smartphone for contactless payment (45% male to 32% female).
- Women were more concerned about security than men – with 84% citing it as their main reason against using a smartphone for contactless payment.
- Nearly four in 10 (38%) of young people thought that short battery life made it an unreliable payment method.
- Younger people are more likely to use this payment method, with more than half (55%) of 18-24 year-olds willing to use their smartphone for making contactless payments.
- That’s a lot more than the over 55 year old age group, where less than a quarter (24%) would be willing to use their smartphone for contactless payment.
- Although nearly half of all respondents don’t want to use their smartphone to make a contactless payment, a substantial minority (38%) would be prepared to do so.
- Londoners are far more likely than people in the rest of the country to do it – 45% of them are willing to do this, compared to just 27% of people in Wales (the least likely).
“This new survey shows that despite contactless payments being heralded as a huge step in making it easier to pay for items, people are still reluctant to use their phones because of security concerns,” said Mike Sloman, vice-president of business development at Firstsource Solutions. “It appears the financial services industry and mobile providers still have a lot to do to convince the public of its merits. More companies that are household names accepting contactless payments via smartphones will also increase confidence in the system. Until then, those companies that offer an alternative range of options to enable people to pay for goods and services are the ones that will enjoy most success.”
