Despite the growing number of mobile payment initiatives such as ISIS and Google Wallet, only a handful of consumers actually want to use their phones as a mobile wallet. According to new research from Intersperience, just 17% of U.K. adults are interested in using their phones to purchase goods. 24% of the 1,000 participants in Intersperience’s survey were afraid of security issues, although they admittedly didn’t “know why.” 24% also thought their mobile phone is more likely to be stolen than a wallet. 44% of the survey respondents were afraid to use their phone as a mobile wallet due to the lack of security software. “There is no doubt that the phone hacking scandals have unnerved consumers,” Paul Hudson, Intersperience CEO said. “We also detected a marked rise in security concerns when people use devices with mobile internet access compared to fixed access via PCs. These beliefs will impact the pace at which UK consumers adopt mobile payment systems.” Currently, just 8% of U.K. adults use their mobile phone for payments, but that figure might increase as Google rolls out its Wallet option in the U.K. next year. Read on for the full press release from Intersperience.
UPDATE: Regarding questions surrounding mobile payments, security and more, a MasterCard spokesman let us know that Mung Ki Woo, MasterCard’s head of mobile, will be fielding questions on Twitter tomorrow to help consumers better understand the technology, security and more. More →
