Growing smartphone ownership is driving m-payments adoption in the UK – report

According to a new research from international payments company VocaLink, whilst the appetite for mobile banking and payments in the UK is growing with half the population either already using mobile payments (20 percent) or interested in doing so (30 percent), uptake is rapidly gaining momentum amongst the future generation. Younger adults are especially likely to be mobile payment users (41 percent of 16 to 24 year olds) and around half of those who are not already using their smartphone to pay for goods and services are interested in doing so.

However, the research has found that current mobile payment behaviour remains fragmented. Mobile payments are currently used on an ad hoc basis in a range of situations, including sending money to friends and family (6 percent), paying for parking (5 percent) and purchasing groceries in supermarkets (3 percent). The research has revealed that there is no one solution which attracts more than 5 percent of current mobile payment users on a regular basis.

The research has suggested that it is banks who are ideally placed to be the trusted providers of a ubiquitous mobile payments service with 35 percent of UK respondents more likely to pay for items using their mobile phone if it was provided by their bank. 63 percent of consumers who already make some mobile payments agreed they would also trust their banks to provide this service. Finally, 30 percent of UK respondents said they would use mobile payments and interact with their bank more often if this offering was available. The bank-provided app also has another distinct advantage; it gives bank customers the ability to see their balance on screen at point of payment and make informed choices about whether to pay for goods or services and from which account.