What four leading markets teach us about changing mobile payment app preferences

Innovation

COVID-19 transformed everyday life and gave a significant acceleration to market dynamics that have been underway for some time, including the way people pay for goods and services. In Q4 2020, NielsenIQ BASES surveyed 3,700+ mobile payment app users and non-users to better understand this digital transformation.

The research “Drivers of mobile payment app choice” conducted in the U.S, Germany, Brazil, and India shows that mobile payments have seen significant adoption in recent months, fueled in part by the desire to avoid touching surfaces in a pandemic, but also by the promise of convenience and security these digital solutions offer.

Mobile payment app preferences vary greatly across markets

While the majority of German and U.S. mobile payment users started using contactless payments for the first time during the pandemic (62% and 60% respectively), COVID-19 has accelerated the transition to contactless payments in India and Brazil, where 78% and 74% of mobile payment users, respectively, have used contactless payments more often.

There are a variety of reasons consumers use mobile payments over other forms of payment: speed, convenience, and security top this list. The pandemic has also highlighted safety concerns, with almost half of mobile payments users across markets using mobile payments to avoid touching surfaces – a rate that increases with age. Mobile payment users also tend to be more concerned about the pandemic and more online in their daily activities (shopping, working, connecting with friends and family) across all surveyed markets.

The major factors driving mobile payment app choice

The top three factors driving mobile payment app choice are Convenience & Ease of Use, Trust & Security, and Social benefits like the opportunity to easily connect with peers.

The importance of these benefit spaces differs by age: older users in India and Brazil place more value on both Trust & Security and Convenience & Ease of Use than younger users. In Germany and the U.S., Trust & Security influences mobile payment app choice more among younger users while Convenience & Ease of Use is more important to older users.

As mobile payments become more prevalent, service providers can further differentiate from the competition by satisfying unmet user needs. Mobile payments will continue to add new features and benefits in the coming months and the top product features users would like to see next relate to aspects of advanced security and convenience.

Navigating the future of consumers’ needs

Mobile payments have revolutionized the payment industry. To succeed, mobile payment services must evolve to meet consumers’ needs, reassure on trust and security, and be a convenient, easy to use alternative, while offering differentiated benefits versus other mobile payments and traditional payment methods. Whether you’re in tech, finance, retail, restaurants, or manufacturing, BASES insights will help you navigate the rapidly developing mobile payments market.

To learn more about this study and drivers of mobile payment app choice, we invite you to view our whitepapers. You’ll learn:

How different mobile payments in the U.S, Germany, India, and Brazil are perceived by users.
Users’ top reasons for using mobile payments vs. other methods of payment.
The features consumers want to see in the future and potential paths for converting non-users.

View the reports