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News: Consumers Slow to Embrace Mobile Payment - Credit-Land.com

Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay are often in the news, so it’s natural to assume that mobile payments are trending with consumers. But according to a new study that may not be the case. While over half of consumers are well aware that they can use their phone to check out, only 18% actually use them once a week to buy something with two exceptions – Millennials and high-income consumers.

In the Accenture 2015 North America Consumer Digital Payments Survey, 4,000 smartphone users in the U.S. and Canada were interviewed about mobile payments. While some consumers may be slow to use their smartphones to actually make payments, the number of people who know they can is up 10% from last year. The number of people who actually do use digital wallets has only increased by 1%.

High earners and Millennials lead the way

While the number of people making purchases with their smartphones has stalled, high-income consumers and Millennials defied this trend with 38% of people who earn $150,000 or more indicating that they avid users of mobile wallets and payment systems while 23% of Millennial's said that they pull out their phone at least once a week to pay for something at store, whether it’s a latte, clothing or dinner. Here they outperform all other age groups.

Sweetening the mobile payment pot

What would make people more willing to use their smartphones and devices at the register? The answer was clear-- better security, rewards and discounts. Over three-quarters of people who are already using their devices to make payments, indicated that they would make more purchases if they received coupons or a discount to do so. Over half of those who aren't doing it at all say that they would give it a try if they received special offers and discounts.

What is the most used mobile payment system? If you said Apple Pay you would be right, just a year after its launch the study found that it’s used for 68% of mobile purchases. The survey was conducted from June 15 to July 15.

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