Majority of UK consumers not aware of mobile wallets- survey

According to the survey, 36 percent of UK respondents have admitted not knowing whether their existing phone was enabled to make cashless payments, whereas 23 percent of British polled consumers claimed being interested in using their phone instead of cash.

Moreover, the poll has revealed that 81 percent of the UK respondents interested in using a mobile wallet would use it for small purchases, as compared to 39 percent of them who claimed seeing themselves making bigger purchases including games consoles, clothes and even the weekly shop.

Furthermore, 64 of UK polled consumers interested in mobile wallets would prefer the payments to be linked directly to their bank account, according to the survey. The report has also pointed out that 60 percent of British respondents believe supermarkets are likely to be the first to adopt mobile payment technology.

As far as brands are concerned, 51 percent of UK mobile phone owners in the survey expect Apple to offer handsets with mobile payment capabilities, while 49 percent of them expect RIMs BlackBerry devices to offer them this service and 43 percent of them would expect to find mobile payments on a Nokia handset.

The survey has also highlighted the fact that education plays a crucial role in the actual usage of m-payments services, with 15 percent of UK polled consumers who already have contactless technology claiming they do not know how to use it.