RHINEBECK, N.Y. Tech-savvy smart phone owners are well aware of mobile wallets they just are not eager to use them.
About 41% of smart phone owners said they were unlikely to use a mobile wallet app and 39% claimed to be neutral about the technology, according to a recent survey of 3,013 cardholders by Phoenix Marketing International. Only 20% showed significant interest.
If smart phone users are generally indifferent to mobile wallets, it is not because they are uninformed: 70% said were aware of them.
Non-smart phone owners were even less inspired by mobile wallets, with 62% reporting they would be unlikely to use them.
The survey asked all respondents to imagine the conditions under which they would use a mobile wallet. In that case, 49% insisted on using PIN-based authentication rather than Near Field Communication chips or QR codes.
“Although the market is in early stages of development, consumers clearly prefer to enter a PIN at the merchant terminal or on their smart phone,” Greg Weed, director of card research at Phoenix, said in a press release. “Overall, cardholders preferred PIN over NFC and QR codes by a 3 to 1 margin, likely due to greater familiarity with PIN technology.”
Cardholders also stuck with the familiar when asked about their preferred mobile wallet providers. “Nearly three-fourths (72%) of likely users would consider a mobile wallet from a bank, but about 40% also would consider Amazon or PayPal,” Weed says in the release.
Phoenix conducted the survey in the second quarter of 2013.
