New Data on Mobile Payments Sheds Light on Emerging Technology
Over a quarter of eligible smartphone users are taking advantage of new mobile payment technologies like Apple Pay when at the cash register, a new study by Auriemma Consulting Group (ACG) says.
Twenty-seven percent of eligible smartphone users – meaning consumers with mobile devices capable of utilizing mobile payment software like Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay – say that they have used the software for a transaction.
The study, which surveyed 2004 US consumers with either Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay, also found that most mobile payments are small; 61 percent said that they use the technology to supplant cash transactions and that, for a third of those who had used mobile pay recently, the transaction was under $25. Mobile pay users report that 17 percent of their discretionary spending was done with mobile pay, again indicating that small, routine transactions are the primary
Traditional “plastic” payments like debit and credit cards still make up the majority of transactions for American consumers, even for those using mobile pay. Even when completely certain mobile payment technologies are accepted, only 31 percent of mobile pay users say that they use mobile payments. “Reaching for the phone instead of the wallet isn’t an automatic reflex, even for mobile pay enthusiasts,” said Marianne Berry, managing director of ACG’s Payments Insights practice, “and even if they do remember, many will give up and use their plastic cards if they encounter friction at the point of sale, particularly if there are other shoppers in line behind them.”
The use of mobile payments is likely to increase as new smartphones come on the market and more consumers become eligible to use the technology, the study says. And further, 39 percent of mobile payments users say they would use the technology frequently if more retailers accepted it. “Overall satisfaction with mobile payments is quite high at 80%, despite complaints about low merchant penetration and inconsistent customer experience at point of sale,” Berry stated. “But mobile payment has yet to reach the tipping point that will take it from novelty to norm.”