The current digital wallet market is still quite fragmented among providers because of low consumer adoption of different types of wallets, a recent study indicates.

According to the Digital Wallet Road Map 2013 survey, which measures consumer awareness, perceptions and intent to use current digital wallet offerings, conducted by comScore, a source of digital business analytics, digital wallets only had awareness among 51 percent of US consumers for wallets other than PayPal.

The same source shows that only 12 percent of consumers claim to have used a digital wallet other than PayPal. However, research points out that the digital wallet market opportunity could eventually reach 1 in 2 consumers as consumers become more aware of the offerings.

With regard to mai barriers for the adoption of digital wallets, the study unveils that one clear barrier is that the concept is often difficult to convey and prone to misinterpretation. Even after being asked to review the websites of particular digital wallets, respondents across all wallet brands still scored an average of just 45 percent in terms of demonstrated level of understanding.

The comScore data also reveals that security remains a top consumer concern, but a significant portion of consumers are not aware of security features inherent in digital wallet usage. While 93 percent of consumers would prefer to use a digital wallet that has to be unlocked before use, an average of just 57 percent of respondents across the brands studied realized – after having reviewed the digital wallet website – that this locking feature was available.

The study also provides guidance on how digital wallet providers, marketers, developers and retailers can contribute to growing adoption of this technology.

The Digital Wallet Road Map 2013 is a report based on comScore’s research panel of 1 million US consumers and attitudinal insights gained from two comScore surveys of over 2,000 US online consumers, each conducted in November 2012. The report analyzes consumer intent to use digital wallets and provides insights into how to drive consumer adoption.