Money-saving incentives and mobile-based financial management tools may be required to increase consumers' use of smartphones as payment devices, according to survey from Accenture.
More than half of respondents who currently use their smartphones to make payments said they were highly likely to pay by phone more often if they could use their phone to track receipts (cited by 60 percent of respondents), manage their personal finances (56 percent), show proof of insurance (56 percent) or of a valid driver's license (54 percent).
In addition, more than half of those who currently make mobile payments also said they were highly likely to pay by phone more often if they were offered: instant coupons from retailers (cited by 60 percent of respondents); reward points stored on their phone for future purchases at the store (51 percent); coupons that could be automatically stored on their phone (50 percent); or preferential treatment, such as priority customer service (50 percent).
Similar incentives appear to work with people who don't make mobile payments. About one in three non-users said they would be more likely to use mobile payments if they could use their phones as proof of insurance or to track receipts (each cited by 32 percent of respondents). About one in five non-users said that they would be more likely to use mobile payments if they received preferential treatment at retailers or coupons for future purchase that could be stored on their phones (cited by 21 and 20 percent of respondents, respectively).
Security concerns ranked as the greatest barrier to consumer adoption, cited by 60 percent of non-users. Privacy issues and the convenience of using cash, checks or credit cards were the next most-mentioned reasons, each cited by 37 percent of respondents.
Matthew Friend, managing director, Accenture Payment Services, North America, said in a statement that while the survey showed consumers are "still very concerned" about security and privacy issues, a significant number still don't see the convenience and value of using their phones to make payments.
"While persuading current users to become more regular users is clearly important, getting people to use this technology in the first place is the biggest challenge the industry faces," said Mr. Friend.
The survey of 4,000 smartphone users in the United States and Canada was conducted in October.