NFC awareness up but many see no benefits to the technology

Default Image

The eDigitalResearch report reveals that 53% of those surveyed have used their mobile device to make a contactless payment, compared with 47% one year ago. Furthermore, of the 2,006 consumers surveyed, more had seen a contactless payment point today (39%) than back in May, 2012 (15%).

However, while awareness is on the increase, 30% of consumers don’t think there are any benefits to the technology. While it may take a shorter time to make a payment, the amount of time waiting for, say, a meal in a restaurant or a coffee to be made is no quicker.

“When eDigitalResearch first launched the Mobile Payment Index one year ago, we saw that awareness, adoption and spending rates were relatively low amongst consumers. As a result we concluded that retailers and providers needed to come together to increase consumer knowledge surrounding the technology,” said Derek Eccleston, commercial director at eDigitalResearch.

“These latest results show that they have gone some way in achieving this, but now need to turn their attention to tackling issues of security and trust, especially as these are still some of the biggest perceived limitations of the technology, if they are to make the most of this upsurge in consumer awareness.”

eDigitalResearch’s report comes at a time when issues surrounding contactless payments have come to the fore. Stories of digital pickpockets taking advantage of NFC capabilities and charging errors have surfaced, particularly situations at stores such as Britain’s Marks & Spencers and Pret A Manger.

While many big retailers in the UK are holding back from introducing contactless payment systems, some are trailling the method including, most recently, UK-based Wal-Mart subsidiary, Asda.

Share:
Share

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kristina Knight-1
Kristina Knight, Journalist , BA
Content Writer & Editor
linkedin
Kristina Knight is a freelance writer with more than 15 years of experience writing on varied topics. Kristina’s focus for the past 10 years has been the small business, online marketing, and banking sectors, however, she keeps things interesting by writing about her experiences as an adoptive mom, parenting, and education issues. Kristina’s work has appeared with BizReport.com, NBC News, Soaps.com, DisasterNewsNetwork, and many more publications.