Only Two In Five U.S. Shoppers Want More Mobile Pay Options

In a survey of 20,000 internet users ages 18 and up from across the world, market researcher GfK found in August of this year that the world is split on the desirability of mobile pay options.

Only 26 and 28 percent of American and European respondents, respectively, reported that they look forward to making more transactions on their mobile devices.

Fifty-five percent of U.S. respondents expressed concern about their personal information when using mobile pay apps — up from 52 percent in 2015. Only 24 percent were confident about mobile payment security, and just 19 percent believed mobile payments to be more secure than any other payment method.

Elsewhere in the world, however, shoppers are more enthusiastic about mobile pay options. Sixty-five percent of respondents in Latin America, 52 percent in South Africa and Turkey, and 51 percent in the Asia-Pacific region look forward to being able to complete more transactions on mobile devices.

Estimates suggest that more than 38.4 million Americans will have made mobile payments in 2016, spending over $27 billion. This spending is expected by some to double in 2017.

By 2018, there could be as many as 75.7 million people using mobile pay methods in the U.S.