Mobile payments are being rapidly driven by transactions of £10 or under, according to research from Skrill as part of its The Future of Money campaign. The study reveals that 41% of British consumers expect their use of mobile payments to increase, with this rising to 59% for those aged 18 to 24 years, and 30% will shop on their mobile in the next 12 months.
The most popular finance related use of mobile phones for consumers is to pay for goods in a shop rather than using a debit card. The second most popular usage is saving money, with around a quarter (26%) saying they use their phones to save rather than spend, via money management, micro payment, voucher and price comparison apps.
‘It is a complex time in the development of mobile payment technology, but our research shows that the appetite for mobile payments is clearly growing among consumers, particularly for low value items,’ comments Siegfried Heimgaertner, CEO of Skrill.
‘Crucially, the technology is ready to meet this growing demand for fast, easy and secure payments. Our own product Skrill 1-Tap exemplifies this, delivering a payment solution through which consumers can make easy and fast transactions with just one tap.’
According to the Skrill study, 40% of Brits are most comfortable making transactions of under £10 using their mobile phone, for items such as coffee, sandwiches or a parking fee, while almost a quarter (24%) would pay for a larger item valued up to £100, such as an item of clothing or a trip to the hairdresser.
The top benefits of mobile payments were cited as being ‘easy’ and ‘fast’. Only one in ten consumers regard mobile payments as being ‘secure’, but it doesn’t seem to be stopping the uptake, with as many as 40% of British consumers already making payments on their mobile and almost one in five (18%) doing so on a weekly basis.
