Mobile Payments 2013: Young Adults and Minorities Take the Lead

  Mercator Advisory Group is releasing the first in a series of eight reports on consumer payments and banking channels, CustomerMonitor Survey Series 2013 Insight reports, based on primary research conducted with an expanded panel of over 3,000 U.S. adult consumers reflective of the U.S. Bureau of the Census demographic profile of U.S. adult households to gain deeper insight into subsegments of the market.

Mobile Payments 2013: Young Adults and Minorities Take the Lead, the latest report from Mercator Advisory Group, reveals that young adults and minorities are lead in use and interest in mobile payments as they are also the most likely to be mobile-enabled of other segments with 75% of young adults, 73% of Asians, 70% of Hispanics, and 64% of Blacks owning smartphones compared to an average of 55% smartphone penetration within U.S. adult households as of June 2013.

This study examines the demographic shift and changing landscape of Web-enabled mobile users, consumer use, interest, and satisfaction with mobile devices for payment for both payment acceptance and making payments in-store and online, the use of security codes, and preferences for the type and processes to launch a payment app, and use and interest of related payment features including e-couponing, e-receipting, e-loyalty as well as payment, balance, and fraud alerts.

The report findings are based Mercator’s CustomerMonitor Survey Series online panel of 3,003 U.S. adult consumers surveyed between May 28 and June 6, 2013.

“Greater mobile penetration is shifting the demographics of smartphone users. No longer are mobile apps the domain only of young adults who are avid mobile users – minorities are leading the ranks as well. Mobile payment use and interest is growing, but there needs to be a compelling reason to launch a payment app at checkout. Greater automation in the couponing and loyalty programs to enable consumers to get a discount with a purchase will help move the needle of consumer adoption of mobile payments,” states Karen Augustine, manager of CustomerMonitor Survey Series at Mercator Advisory Group and the author of the report.

Highlights of this report include:

– Year-over-year trending of smartphone use, and use and interest in various methods of in-store and online mobile payments and mobile payment acceptance methods

– Shift in demographics of mobile users, in both smartphone and tablet usage and satisfaction with operability, functionality, and availability of mobile phones

– Challenges to mobile payment adoption, and confidence in security and reliability

– Use and preferences for passwords or other types of security codes and preferences for how to access mobile payments

– Use and delivery methods for payment and fraud alerts

– Shifts in use and interest in e-couponing, e-receipting, and merchant apps
Excerpt from one of 31 exhibits in this report: