MasterCard Study: Consumer Sentiment On Payments Evolves From “Why Mobile?” To “What’s Next?”

MasterCard is on a roll with exciting announcements revealed at this year’s Mobile World Congress. Today, the company announced its findings from the third annual Mobile Payments Study. The study, developed with PRIME Research, tracked global social media posts across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Forums, Weibo (CN), Google+ and YouTube throughout 2014, according to a MasterCard release. The study was designed to identify evolving consumer attitudes toward digital payments and mobile solutions.

The year 2014 was “game-changing,” says MasterCard, especially when it came to the volume of conversations had around mobile payments. That number rose from 85,000 in 2012 to 19.1 million in 2014. (See infographic below)

In addition to a remarkable boost in the volume of conversations had, there was a significant shift in the tone and focus of the social discussion, says MasterCard. In 2014, 94 percent of global conversations were favorable, compared to 77 percent in 2013 and 70 percent in 2012. The most positive of the 2014 conversations were centered on innovation, rewards, loyalty and convenience (a 91 percent average positive tone).

Safety and security were also ranked among the most positive topics discussed – 91 percent of all of the safety and security conversations in 2014 were favorable, which was up 20 percent from 2012. MasterCard also reported that while confusion and concern over safety and security were cited in the previous two studies, the 2014 study showed that this was replaced with “consumers celebrating more secure solutions.”

What contributed significantly to this consumer peace of mind, said MasterCard, were the topics of tokenization and biometrics.

Security and safety, while positive in the 2014 study, were also part of a low volume of discussions. Conversations were more heavily made around mobile payments innovation.

“The enriched experiences delivered by mobile and connected devices drove the majority (71 percent) of social discussions among stakeholders in 2014,” said the MasterCard release. Ranked as the most positive aspects of mobile payments were convenience and reward incentive programs – something that consumers indicated would “reinforce their loyalty to mobile devices.”

For more on the results of the 2014 Mobile Payments Study, view the infographic below.