Canadian Attitudes Toward The Mobile Wallet 2011 Report

Gail Chiasson, North American Editor

Dublin-based Research and Markets has announced the addition of the The Mobile Wallet in Canada to its offering.

Conducted as a joint initiative by Technology Strategies International and Hotspex Inc., a recent survey of more than 1,000 Canadian mobile phone users and smart phone intenders suggests that more than one-third of this group of consumers would use a mobile wallet if it was offered by a bank. However, if the mobile wallet is issued by others in the emerging mobile payments ecosystem, usage intent is less favourable.

Furthermore, while appeal of the concept is high against some metrics, there are substantial barriers to adoption.

“Most of the players in the mobile payments ecosystem are aware that consumer concerns around security are significant barriers to adoption,” says Christie Christelis, president of Technology Strategies International.

But this research revealed some important nuances around the security issue, and also demonstrated how rational concerns about security have a deep emotional impact on consumers – which doesn’t augur well for adoption, Christelis says. It is imperative for those players intending to offer mobile wallets as well as their ecosystem partners to design and position the mobile wallet in such a way that it addresses the emotional and rational barriers to adoption.

The Mobile Wallet in Canada study is the most comprehensive assessment of mobile wallet consumer acceptance ever undertaken in Canada. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of 1,003 respondents, the study was conducted in English and French, and completed in June, 2011.


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