Majority Of U.S. Consumers Won’t Use mWallets

By Michael Patrick McSweeney

Smartphones have become culturally ubiquitous since their introduction, but despite their popularity, U.S. consumers have yet to embrace the technology as a payment tool. Still, this hasn’t stopped mobile players from seeking to create a fabled black swan product that will finally bring this solution to the mainstream.

A new study from independent IT consultancy Consult Hyperion, however, suggests such a solution may be unlikely: When given the choice among a list of possible issuers, including retailers and personal banks, a majority of survey respondents indicated that they would rather avoid mobile wallets altogether.

“The survey shows that issuers need to do a better job of conveying what mobile wallets are and what benefits they bring,” Consult Hyperion Global Ambassador Dave Birch said in a September 24 statement.

Though Consult Hyperion’s main findings aren’t promising for those attempting to enter or influence the field, the study did reveal differences in attitude that suggest mobile wallets do have a place in the market.

For more insights and analysis, we break down Consult Hyperion’s latest report in this PYMNTS.com Data Point.

Banks, Google Garner Consumer Trust

Despite Google Wallet’s high-profile struggles, Google was the most popular singular issuer of the available mobile wallet selections, accounting for 10 percent of the positive feedback Consult Hyperion received.

Twenty percent of consumers said they trusted banks, while 3 percent trusted big-box retailers such as Walmart and Target to provide the solution. Two percent of respondents said that they would prefer a mobile wallet offered by their phone service provider.

Study Finds A ‘Confidence Gap’

Consult Hyperion Global Ambassador Dave Birch said his firm’s data indicates that the problem of mobile wallet adoption lies in issuers’ messaging. He suggested consumers need better access to information regarding the benefits of opting for this new technology.

Still, Birch did suggest that it was encouraging that some relatively new entrants to the space had already found success in the market.

“However it’s interesting to see both that Google outranks both phone operators and major retailers as a trusted issuer, despite the obvious retail applications of wallets, and that banks retain the most trust for such a service.”

Future Mobile Wallet Trends

Consult Hyperion also examined how differences in demographics led to differing opinions of mobile wallets. Fifty percent of respondents between 25 and 34 years old said that they would use a mobile wallet: This demographic was most likely to voice this sentiment. By comparison, only 22 percent of women aged 45 to 54 years old said they would use such a solution.

The data suggests that younger consumers feel more positive about the technology and could be a key focus of marketing efforts in the future.

For more insights and statistics from Consult Hyperion, click here.