Smartphone payments will overtake credit cards, but not just yet

A majority of Americans believe that smartphones will replace credit cards for payment transactions in the future, but not quite as many are ready to adopt this technology just yet, according to recent report from Harris Interactive.

A Harris Poll conducted by Harris Interactive between November 14 and 19, 2012 found that 66 percent of Americans see smartphone payments replacing credit cards and 61 percent see smartphone payments replacing cash – eventually.

“Eventually” is the key work in that statement, as those aforementioned percentages fall to 32 and 26 percent, respectively, if the additional disclaimer of “within five years” is added to the statement.

And while 44 percent of smartphone users and 27 percent of Americans overall report some interest in using smartphone payments to potentially replace credit cards and/or cash, a far lower percentage are very interested in the technology.

Just 16 percent of smartphone users and 8 percent of Americans overall are currently “very interested” in utilizing smartphone payments in this manner.

Security concerns hold back interest

Within the group of respondents indicating some interest in smartphone payment technology, security is the overwhelming concern. More than half of these respondents – 51 percent – don’t want sensitive information to be stored on their phone, while 40 percent say that they don’t want to transmit sensitive information to the merchant’s device.

Security is also the top concern of current smartphone owners that don’t currently have interest in smartphone payments. Of those not interested in utilizing smartphone payments, 68 percent are concerned about storing sensitive information on their phones, and 51 percent are concerned about transmitting sensitive information to the merchant’s device.

Other than security, other basic factors could contribute to slow adoption of smartphone payments, as well. More than half of respondents (52 percent) say they don’t see a real reason to switch from cash and/or credit cards, while 50 percent simply don’t use a smartphone.

Posted in: Business Credit Cards, Consumer Credit Cards, Student Credit Cards

Business Credit Cards News: This article was published on 2-6-2013 at 8:39 am.

View comments