• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, November 4, 2015

For the moment, credit cards still have the upper hand over the mobile payment systems of Apple and Samsung.

The biggest issue mobile payments face is the ease-of-use factor of credit cards, based on a new study.

The majority (85%) of consumers who are able to use Apple Pay say it’s easy to pay in a store with a credit card.

The study comprised a survey conducted by Trustev of 2,000 smartphone owner, half with phones that could use Apple Pay and half Samsung Pay.

Of those who could use Apple Pay, only 21% have tried it and Samsung Pay is at 14%. And age doesn’t appear to be a factor here, since 22% of those 18 to 34 years old tried Apple Pay, close to the 20% aged 35 to 65.

And those who use the mobile payments systems don’t tend to use it a lot, based on the study. Here’s the breakdown of usage of those who have used Apple Pay:

• 56% -- Once a week
• 16% -- 2-3 times a week
• 8% -- 4-10 times a week
• 2% -- 11-20 times a week
• 2% -- 20 times or more per week

More Apple Pay users turn to mobile payments once a week but significantly more Samsung Pay consumers are frequent users, according to the survey. Here’s the breakdown of Samsung Pay usage:

• 36% -- Once a week
• 11% -- 2-3 times a week
• 5% -- 4-10 times a week
• 1% -- 11-20 times a week
• 9% -- 20 times or more per week

There’s still quite a ways to go for both payment systems, since 15% of consumers with phones that could use Apple Pay have never tried it and the same is true for 38% of those who could use Samsung Pay.

However, those who use either mobile payment method have their reasons, with convenience leading for both Apple and Samsung. Here are the reasons cited by those who have used Apple Pay:

• 41% -- Convenience of paying
• 25% -- Cool to use it
• 23% -- Security
• 10% -- Can leave wallet at home

Interestingly, leaving a wallet at home has long been an industry stated pitch for mobile payments, but it doesn’t seem to hold much importance for Apple Pay users, though it does seem more appealing to Samsung phone owners.

• 40% -- Convenience of paying
• 19% -- Cool to use it
• 16% -- Security
• 18% -- Can leave wallet at home

(I’ve been conducting my own mobile payments testing, using Samsung Pay, Apple Pay and an electronic credit card called Wocket, which I’ll be writing about here in the near future.)

One insight in the survey is that of those who could use Apple Pay or Samsung Pay, 21% and 29%, respectively, don’t know about the feature. Worse for mobile payment proponents: 36% of those who could use Apple Pay don’t care about the feature, along with 40% of Samsung Pay potentials.

Of course, we may not be seeing the mobile payments impact of chip card payments as merchants slowly migrate to the new point-of-sale technology, as I wrote about here recently (Mobile Payments Finally Catch a Break).

If the move to chip card payments doesn’t push Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and others along, it could be back to mobile payments glacier growth mode.