Cardholders' familiarity with mobile payments rose slightly during the second quarter of 2017, but overall awareness remains below late 2016 levels.
However, 52% of the cardholders ages 55 and older say they are interested in mobile payments, an increase over the 46% reported in the first quarter of the year, according to Auriemma Consulting Group's second-quarter payments trends report.
That figure bodes well for mobile payment platforms because the older cardholder segment has long been far less engaged in mobile payment technology, the report noted. Auriemma conducted 800 web interviews with U.S. debit card users in March to compile the trends report.
Sixty-two percent of consumers are familiar with at least one mobile payment app, up from 61% last quarter, but below the 64% and 67% registered in the final two quarters last year.
As in previous quarters, cardholders were most familiar with
Apple Pay registered 29% of respondents saying they were aware of the platform through advertising spots. Visa Checkout was right behind at 24%, and Masterpass at 23%.
Regarding person-to-person payment apps, familiarity was at 42% amongst respondents, down four points from the previous quarter and 12 from the last quarter of 2016.
Familiarity remains highest with Google Wallet and PayPal Me, both at 25%, followed by Square Cash at 15% and Facebook Payments and Venmo, both at 13%.
Usage of at least one P-to-P app slipped to 17% of cardholders, down from 20% in the first quarter of the year and 29% in the final quarter of 2017.
