Despite the “wonderful convenience” of making mobile payments, many people are still not prepared to take the leap and start using that facility, says payment solutions provider Verifone. Research by the company and the University of Glasgow has found that just 38% of users were prepared to take advantage of “very compelling” offers sent to their phones, says June Yee Felix, Verifone’s president, Europe. Although that figure seems high compared to other forms of advertising, “it depends on your perspective,” she says. “If you think about it in terms of the mobile world, these advertisements are highly targeted and the recipients are almost self-selecting. It’s not as high as you would expect.” The reason? “People still think: ‘Where is this coming from? Is it spam?’ They are worried that they might have their name sold on to other lists,” she concludes.
