According to the insightful findings of a new MasterCard survey, customers are poised to rapidly embrace mobile payments systems.
The survey in question reveals that consumers, particularly “trend-setting 18-34 year-olds,” are more than receptive to mobile phone payments.
“Consumers are now poised for the next step,” MasterCard announced, pointing to the emergent use of smartphones as mobile wallets.
Conducted by Kelton Research, the study shows 62% of Americans who use a mobile phone would be open to using their device to make purchases.
“Consumers are already living a mobile lifestyle so using their phones to make payments on a daily basis is a natural next step,” said Mung Ki Woo, group executive, mobile at MasterCard Worldwide. “2011 is the beginning of the NFC mobile payments era, and consumers are eager to get their hands on the first commercial deployments in the U.S.”
Noteworthy findings from the report include:
- 63% of 18-34 year-olds would be at ease using mobile phones to make purchases versus those age 35 or older (37%).
- Consumers ages 18-34 (65%) feel more naked without their phones than their wallets, compared to 34% of those in the 35 and older group.
- Between 2009 and 2010, respondents showed a 67% increase (15% in 2009 to 25% in 2010) in the number of purchases made with their mobile phones.
- In this time period, this audience also increased their daily mobile phone access to their bank’s online banking service by 79% (14% in 2009 to 25% in 2010).
“When credit and debit cards were first introduced, consumers welcomed the improvements they made to the speed, convenience and reliability of transactions,” said Woo. “Now with the mobile wallet ready to revolutionize this experience again, consumers have even more to gain as their phones take on additional functionality and value in their lives.”
