Report: Visa, PayPal lead mobile wallet race
11 September, 2012
category: NFC
Visa and PayPal are emerging as consumer favorites amid an ever-growing field of mobile wallet providers, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research.
When asked in Javelin’s online survey which mobile wallet provider they would prefer, 15% of consumers chose Visa and 13% chose PayPal. Mobile network operators Verizon and AT&T (i.e. Isis) came in third with 9%, followed by Apple at 4% and Google at a mere 3%. Facebook brought up the rear with 2% of the vote.
“Consumers have spoken, and the primary bank relationship and the payment networks, such as Visa and PayPal will be a key part of any widespread mobile wallet,” said Jim Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin.
According to Javelin’s report, over 60% of mobile bankers are likely to adopt a mobile wallet in the next 12 months. These could include either NFC, cloud, or bar code technologies. Javelin predicts that In the near-term, bar codes and cloud-based wallets will proliferate as they do not require the average consumer or business to upgrade their hardware. In the long run, however, NFC technology will prevail as it offers greater convenience, according to Javelin.
“NFC faces significant barriers to adoption by merchants and consumers, but it is standards-based technology that will eventually prevail as the main mobile point-of-sale technology,” said Mary Monahan, executive vice president and research director of mobile at Javelin. “Google was first out the door with NFC and has stumbled. When Apple enters the payment space with NFC, we expect Apple iPhone 5 will lead the way and others will follow Apple’s lead.”
