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Mobile wallet awareness on the rise in Canada

Categories: Mobile Payments, Research
By: , IntoMobile
Thursday, September 6th, 2012 at 2:17 AM

If you’re reading IntoMobile from time to time, the chances are you’re familiar with the mobile wallet services. The good news is that this concept will soon reach the mainstream users with more and more people recognizing what it stands for and how it works. In Canada, 56% of users of mobile banking apps (nearly 4 million people) are aware of an upcoming service that would allow them to swipe their phone to pay for goods and services at check out, according to results from our Digital Life Canada Survey. That’s up from 47% a year earlier.

The same user group, which BTW represents 36% of all Canadian smartphone users, is “very” satisfied with the mobile banking app they use the most – 67%, up from 63% the year prior.

The same research shows that simple awareness of the mobile wallet concept translates into usage intent with survey participants citing convenience, speed and the promise that it would mean they would have to carry fewer things with them as the primary reason among 63% of respondents.

On the other hand, many respondents also expressed an underlying concern about security, wanting to know more about the service before they commit to trying it.

In terms of service providers, chartered banks like TD and BMO are preferred by the respondents with a trust score of 7.5. Credit card companies like American Express, Visa and MasterCard are second at 7.0; mobile phone manufacturers scored 6.7; retailers like Canadian Tire, Home Depot and Wal-Mart – 6.5, and mobile operators like Rogers, Bell and Telus scored 6.4.

The survey was conducted in spring 2012, involving 1,000 Canadian consumers.

[Via: CellularNews]

About The Author

Dusan Belic

Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.