Buying and Banking On-The-Go
A new Harris Interactive study shows that one in four cellular phone users with mobile internet access now use their devices to buy goods and
services online with a credit card, and nearly one in five saying they would like to someday use cell phones as a "mobile wallet," where charges would be billed directly to their mobile
accounts. In addition, ten percent of the survey participants said they would consider wire transfers and stock trading via their mobile phones.
The study finds that mobile phone users are
increasingly comfortable making banking and purchase transactions while on-the-go, a virtual taboo until now. 16 percent of mobile phone subscribers already use mobile banking services, with 60
percent of these people using the services at least once a week. Many others presently not banking and buying on-the-go expressed interest in mobile banking, with 35 percent open to checking bank
account balances and transferring funds via their mobile devices. A third of those surveyed also said they would like to receive text message alerts from their financial institutions.
25% of
Smartphone or iPhone users are more likely to "occasionally" use their device to make purchases, compared with 17% of mobile or cellular phone users. 77% of mobile users have
"never" made a purchase with their device, compared with 65% of those with smartphones or iPhones.
Frequency of Making Purchases with Mobile Phones (% of owners surveyed) |
Frequency | Mobile or Cell Phone | Smartphone or
iPhone |
Daily | 1% | 5% |
Weekly | 1 | 4 |
Monthly | 4 | 1 |
Occasionally | 17 | 25 |
Source: Harris Interactive, March
2008 |
Some 16% of mobile phone subscribers already use mobile banking services, and 60% of them use the services at least once a week, the study found.
Consumers not currently banking or buying on-the-go expressed interest in having such applications on their mobile phones:
Interest in Banking, Commerce of Investment Apps for Mobile Device(% of owner respondents) |
Service Interest | % of respondents |
Check bank account
balance/transfer/funds | 35% |
Receive text message alerts | 33 |
Mobile wallet | 19 |
Shopping | 16 |
Wire transfer | 9 |
Stock trading | 9 |
Other | 3 |
None of the above | 53 |
Source: Harris
Interactive, March 2008 |
Joseph Porus, vice-president, Harris Interactive, said "Today's mobile devices are the springboard for... services, with
huge pent-up demand for mobile commerce capabilities... If security concerns can be quelled, the sky's the limit with consumer acceptance of mobile banking and purchase transactions..."
Anxiety about sharing personal data is the biggest barrier to consumer acceptance of mobile banking and commerce, with two-thirds (66%) of respondents saying so.
Concerns Preventing Use(% of mobile device owners) |
Concern | % of respondents |
Security
encryption | 66% |
Exposure to fraud and financial scams | 63 |
Lose device with valuable information | 61 |
Cost | 58 |
Usability | 43 |
Reliability | 37 |
Speed of network | 23 |
Other | 3 |
No
concerns | 11 |
Source: Harris Interactive, March 2008 |
17% are "extremely concerned" about the current cost of non-commercial transactions (e.g., sending an SMS, MMS, viewing a web page).
Degree of Concern About Cost Per Transaction |
How Concerned | % of mobile owners |
Extremely | 17% |
Very | 16 |
Concerned | 21 |
Somewhat | 19 |
Not at all concerned | 26 |
Source: Harris Interactive,
March 2008 |
Porus concludes that "... concerns associated with using mobile devices for financial transactions... (is) similar to the evolution of the
internet as a viable tool for banking and buying... We expect mobile technology to... become even more secure... (which) should ease people's fears and make mobile commerce appealing in the
future."
For more information, please visit MarketingCharts here, or HarrisInteractive here.