Is consumer interest in mobile wallets waning? That’s what a recent research report by JP Morgan and Forrester seems to suggest, showing that mobile wallet adoption and acceptance rates have remained largely static since October 2016. But it also demonstrates that a more nuanced conclusion is that adoption has merely paused as consumers wait for more convincing features to arrive before signing up.
The arrival of these features represents the much talked about ‘tipping point’ for mobile waIlets – i.e. growth beyond the current userbase of habitual early adopters. In Europe, the incoming PSD2 legislation could help to trigger this.
A major legislative step forward for open banking, PSD2 mandates that banks must open their data to use by TPPs (third party providers) – a danger to the monopoly banks currently enjoy on many services, but also an opportunity to enhance their ‘stickiness’ with consumers by integrating TPP services for an improved customer experience.
The JP Morgan report shows that respondents particularly valued mobile wallet features such as ‘Order ahead and pay’ and ‘Self service pay at the table’, and would be incentivised to use a particular wallet by their availability. Both features are currently supported by leading wallets Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay – but the offering on each is fragmented, with functionality only available either via single-store apps from chains such as McDonalds and Starbucks, or via a number of startup apps with disparate and limited ranges of restaurant partnerships.
