‘Please Sir, We Want More Mobile Payments’ – UK Shoppers

In spite of fears that technology is taking over much of our lives, it seems many Brits want their mobile phones to do more, new figures have shown.

Research from mobile solutions provider Oxygen8 found that over half (47 percent) of mobile users in the UK would like to use their mobile phone more to pay for goods and services.

11 percent said that, given the choice, they would prefer to replace their credit and debit cards altogether and only use their mobile phone to pay for purchases.

Game-changing

According to the study of more than 1,000 mobile users in the UK, men were more likely to conduct payments on their mobile device, with popular uses being paying bills (15 percent), ordering groceries via an app (11 percent), paying for car parks (nine percent) and transferring money (13 percent). Whereas females are more likely to purchase items on eBay (27 percent) or purchasing clothes via an app (11 percent)

Overall, the most popular use of mobile payments was purchasing an item on eBay, with 26 percent of respondents doing so, followed by paying bills (14 percent), clothes shopping (10 percent) and food shopping (nine percent).

“The research reveals that mobile users in the UK are already accustomed to buying goods and services with their mobile phones,” said Kevin Dawson, head of payments at Oxygen8, who predicted that 2015 would be “a game-changing year for mobile payments”.

“As of next year, they will be able to do so without the hassle of finding their credit or debit cards, and the inconvenience of processing that payment, just one click and it will appear on their mobile phone bill,” he added.

“Not only will mobile payments provide a new and simplistic opportunity for consumers, the planned groundbreaking developments will open up new payments opportunities for companies wanting to make their own products and services more accessible to their customers.”

Research from Ofcom last week found that the UK’s ‘digital economy’ was far more developed than many other leading countries, as Brits increasingly embrace online payments. The UK has the highest e-commerce spending among major nations, with consumers paying almost £2,000 on average online for goods each year, significantly higher than the next-highest valued market of Australia (£1,356 per head).

Two-fifths (40 percent) of advertising spending in the UK is online – more than any of the other countries analysed, the report found.

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