What drives consumers to make mobile payments? Accenture surveyed 4000 North American smartphone users to better understand how consumers can be encouraged to make mobile payments. The findings reveal a gap between the level of consumer awareness and consumer adoption.

Consumer adoption rates of mobile payments are low despite broad awareness. Persuading consumers to become regular users of these systems is critical for businesses if they want to strengthen customer relationships and capitalise on the significant opportunities mobile payments provide.

As well as examining the motivations of current users, the survey also looked at the reasons for the gap between the level of consumer awareness and consumer adoption.

Analysis of the survey results reveals how financial institutions, retailers, mobile network operators and equipment manufacturers can bridge the gap quickly to convert reluctant North American consumers into regular, loyal users.

Analysis

Accenture’s survey results highlighted 10 insights into consumers and mobile payments:

1. Consumers know that mobile payments are an option, but still do not make them.
2. The industry’s preoccupation with picking a winning mobile payments technology is unnecessary.
3. The security, privacy and convenience of mobile payments are key concerns among all respondents.
4. Rewarding consumers encourages usage.
5. The same incentives might increase adoption among non-users, albeit to a lesser extent.
6. Non-users are even less likely to switch phone, wireless carrier or bank to enable mobile payments than current users.
7. The value and convenience of mobile payment systems for consumers could be enhanced by other ancillary benefits.
8. Non-users also favour value-added tools.
9. Expanding the number of situations in which consumers can make mobile payments would increase usage.
10. Making mobile payments for gas is appealing.

Recommendations

Providing the opportunity for consumers to make mobile payments in a broad variety of situations is crucial, but not enough. Financial institutions, merchants, mobile network operators and technology providers also need to educate consumers on the benefits, assuage their privacy and security concerns and ensure applications are supported by a range of smartphones and wireless networks.

Both current users and non-users can be incentivised to make mobile payments through rewards for usage or other value-added tools such as receipt tracking. Developers should consider incorporating both elements in new mobile payment applications to encourage broad adoption as quickly as possible.