North America may lag behind other countries in mobile-payment availability and use, but the rate of activity here has climbed surprisingly high, new survey data suggest.
A global consumer survey of 8,530 consumers conducted by MEF, a global community for mobile content and commerce, found that 38% of North American respondents had paid for merchandise via their mobile network operator in the previous six months. In the United Kingdom, 91% had researched or bought a product using a mobile device, and in Brazil 79% did.
The U.S. respondents also said they were interested in using mobile Web apps (41%), retailer mobile storefronts (11%) and social media pages (9%) as points of purchase. These figures could increase if security concerns are addressed, as 26% of consumers cited lack of trust in the security as a reason for not making purchases more often on their mobile device.
OnDevice Research in June conducted the MEF Global Consumer Survey in nine countries across five continents–Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, the UK and the U.S.
