Young want ‘mobile phone cash’

Some 63 per cent of 18- to 34 year-olds would be happy to use their mobile phones to make purchases, according to a report, which claims 65 per cent “feel more naked” without their phones than their wallets.
The findings of the study, by Kelton Research for MasterCard, will no doubt be a welcome boost for Quick Tap, a new service launching today. Using the scheme, customers in about 50,000 shops across the UK are now able to make payments of up to £15 by passing their phone over a reader at the till.
Payments will be accepted at McDonald’s, Pret a Manger, Subway, Eat, Little Chef, Wilkinson and Wembley Arena. The scheme is being launched by Barclays Bank and is initially only available to Orange customers with Samsung Tocco Lite handsets.
The MasterCard survey found that over half (54 per cent) of the respondents feel that a mobile phone can tell you more about a person than their wallet. Men were found to think of phones as more functional necessities, while women had a more personal relationship with their phones.
Men were also more willing to adopt mobile payments, as more men than women (51 per cent vs. 40 per cent) said they would be at ease with making purchases using their phones. More men than women (49 per cent vs. 45 per cent) also said they would be impressed by someone who paid a bill with a mobile phone instead of a credit card.
However, women’s personal relationship with their phone was revealed in other findings. For example, 50 per cent of women feel more “exposed” without their phone as compared with only 36 per cent of men.
Earlier this week Acxiom published a study which showed that one in five UK consumers will use their mobile phone to pay for goods and services and receive offers in realtime as soon as the technology becomes widespread. Meanwhile McDonald’s is planning to use contactless payments to reshape its loyalty marketing strategy.

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