A report by ABI Research shows that consumers’ concerns over the security of mobile transactions were not appeased in 2008.
The U.S. Mobile Phone Purchases Trends report compared two surveys taken at the end of 2007 and 2008, each of which sampled more than 1,000 U.S. mobile phone users aged 14–59. Both surveys indicate that just over half of the respondents are not interested in using their mobile phone for transactions.
In 2008, transaction security deterred 71 percent of the survey group from making mobile transactions or expanding their use of mobile transactions. However, low-value purchases for items such as ringtones were made by over half of the group.
According to analysts at ABI Research, transaction vendors will have to establish trust with consumers and increase the speed of the transactions. This, combined with the proliferation of smartphone users, will spur growth in the mobile retail sector. Impulse shopping and real-time auctions are expected to appeal to mobile shoppers.
McAfee recently released a mobile security report indicating that mobile banking and payments were the biggest security concern to mobile manufacturers.
Filed Under: Infrastructure
