BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Yet another report indicates that mobile payments continue to struggle.
According to research from Pulse, less than 1% of U.S. debit card transactions are processed through mobile wallets, even though most financial institutions support this feature and many Americans are loading their cards onto their wallets.
What’s holding back adoption of mobile wallets?
“One of the biggest issues is that many people do not know where mobile wallets are accepted, and they want to avoid embarrassment,” said Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com. “Since credit and debit cards are accepted everywhere, it seems faster and easier to reach for their cards to pay. According to a CNET report, this is much different in the U.K. where mobile wallets are accepted nearly everywhere.”
CardFree, a company that provides mobile wallets for large retailers, hopes to make it easier for companies to offer mobile payment options to shoppers. The company said their Universal API will allow merchants to accept mobile wallets and give businesses the opportunity to reach customers through loyalty programs.
“These loyalty programs in particular could spur mobile wallet usage. As PYMNTS pointed out in a recent report, the use of Walmart Pay has risen much faster than Apple Pay, which they attribute to Walmart's ‘value-added solutions,’ such as the ability to apply coupons and have receipts sent to the Savings Catcher function,” explained Hardekopf.
Hardekopf noted that some banks and card issuers are doing their part to encourage wider mobile wallet adoption as well.
“For example, Chase offers cardholders additional rewards for using mobile wallets,” he said.