According to the latest research from Yankee Group, nearly 70 percent of consumers are interested in adopting mobile payments, but less than 14 percent have actually completed a mobile transaction in the past six months.
Despite the presence of more than 10 payment apps that have gained the attention of mobile users in the U.S., both consumers and merchants are still slow to adopt mobile wallets.
The findings are presented in Yankee Group’s latest report, “Mobile Wallets for the Masses,” which examines the mobile wallet ecosystem and explores why consumers and merchants are not adopting mobile wallets.
The report also outlines seven recommended actions wallet vendors should take to win over consumers and ecosystem partners.
Highlights from the report include:
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More than three-quarters of consumers are interested in NFC. Merchants and brands moved quickly to adopt QR codes for reaching mobile users—their low cost and broad accessibility has led to their ubiquity in on-premise marketing and point-of-sale merchandising both in the U.S. and overseas. NFC tags are picking up momentum after a slower start.
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Wallet vendors should personalize offers and rewards. Mobile engagement requires merchants to adopt a user-first approach. That means serving promotions and incentives to the right customers at the right time. Mobile offers modeled on desktop-based coupon services simply do not work in the smartphone context. Mobile wallet vendors should investigate solutions that have invested in building a precise profile of users.
“While consumers and merchants remain intrigued by mobile wallets, no single solution has emerged victorious,” says Principal Analyst Jason Armitage, who co-authored the report. “As a result, the market is characterized by a multitude of mobile wallet vendors vying for dominance, with a dizzying number of available offerings. As the market matures, solutions that deliver actual value for consumers and merchants will proliferate and clear winners and losers will become more apparent.”