More than a third of consumers believe their financial mobile applications are not secure enough – and that is going to have a massive impact on retailer plans to introduce mobile payments.
That’s according to a new Future of Finance report from digital experience consultancy Episerver, which surveyed 1,000 UK consumers on their expectations of mobile financial service apps and how they manage money on the move.
Consumers aged over 55 are the most likely to be concerned by the security of their mobile apps, with 78% ranking security as a top priority. This compares to 60% for 25-34 year olds. Blackberry users also ranked as the most likely to hold strong concerns around mobile app security.
And while retailers and consumers can see the benefits of mobile payment, because of this the financial sector remains the weak link in the chain, often failing to make customers feel safe enough to make the most of mobile commerce.
“In today’s retail environment, mobile shopping has become a key part of the consumer experience, with mobile apps playing an increasingly vital role,” says James Norwood, CMO at Episerver. “Despite this fact however, the adoption of direct mobile payments remains slow, with many consumers still not trusting financial mobile apps to keep their payments secure. “
Norwood continues: “Trust needs to be built within the financial app sector so that consumers are more likely to spend on the go and at a time which suits them. With a higher amount of users with a greater trust in the financial sector, retailers, and the ecommerce market in particular, will benefit substantially.”
Despite security being a key concern, users want to ensure that the mobile login process does not become any more complicated than it already is. A quarter (25%) of those surveyed are frustrated by the complex security logins required by today’s financial service apps, making for a difficult balance for mobile financial marketers to strike.
Commenting on the new research, James Norwood, CMO at Episerver, said, “Given the complex nature of financial purchasing decisions, as well as the significant values involved, many financial retailers have struggled to convert their services into a mobile friendly format. Clearly the ability to convince customers that their financial purchases are secure is a big part of this.
“Recent advances in technology can help marketers to overcome this challenge, however. Through the development of a mobile strategy that takes advantage of secure touch IDs and one-click social media logins, marketers can quell security fears while still managing to build an intuitive user experience for their end customers.”
The news comes hot on the heels of a study by Connexity of more than 100,000 online shoppers into what frustrates mobile shoppers the most: one of the top reasons behind slow load times, small screens and poor adaptive design was security – which was the bugbear of 11% of shoppers.
More worryingly, security is not as much of a stress for retailers who should be looking at the impact of mobile scan and pay services on their own security, according to criminologists from the University of Leicester.
