While mobile and digital payments are on the rise, the majority of consumers (8 in 10) still have concerns with adoption of this technology. But does Facebook or another big brand have the opportunity to change that with their peer-to-peer payments feature?
It might, according to the Walker Sands’ 2015 Future of Retail Study.
The study points to a major player able to seamlessly connect with today’s consumers taking the lead in the mobile/ digital payments space. According to the study, cash use continues to be on the decline, with only 11% of consumers having paid for something with cash in the past day and 59% of consumers carry less than $20 in their pocket.
The study, unsurprisingly reveals that consumers are waiting for a trusted source to handle m-payments. While only 4% have used Apply Pay, 18% say its introduction makes them more likely to make a purchase with their smartphone in the next year. The number rises to 36% when asking Apple users.
Consumers – especially younger generations – are looking for the convenience of peer-to-peer payments, with half of consumers aged 18 to 25 saying that they are likely to exchange money with a friend or colleague via a mobile application such as Venmo, QuickPay, in at least one payment scenario, compared to only 19% of those aged 46 to 60.
However, there’s no major loyalty yet to mobile payments. Some 2% have used Venmo and 16% have used banking applications, such as QuickPay, to transfer funds. Consumers are most likely to use mobile payment applications for social events and restaurants (24%) and bars (17%) were the most popular reasons consumers cited for using peer-to-peer applications.
