News - Mobile wallet has a long way to go to convince consumers

[HEXUS]

A recent study by YouGov reveals most people still know nothing about it.

Read more.

[Brewster0101]

Personally don't like the idea at all, plus I can't see the older generations picking up this idea, so its not really going to become main stream service for decades.

Don't like the idea of someone being able to steal my phone and then go on a shopping spree with it, in the age of digital crime and fraud, this just seems like a dream come true for criminals.

[Biscuit]

im still not convinced, dont see me ever being to be honest. Just seems too risky.

[Saracen]

im still not convinced, dont see me ever being to be honest. Just seems too risky.

I am convinced .... I'm convinced I don't like the idea one little bit, and will not use it while there is any practical alternative, including actual cash. I won't even use a credit or debit card, with a few rare exceptions. if I can avoid it, so the hell with digital wallets.

[aidanjt]

So far I've seen no technical specifications on an implementation of it. So I'll reserve judgement. With that said, I don't see anything wrong with current cash or card payment methods. And Saracen is rightfully concerned with turning you into a data-mining statistic.

[Steve]

Chip and pin is weak anyway. If digital wallet is better, I might embrace it.

[Scott B]

I think security will probably be better than we currently have, in no small part because that's probably the biggest thing they have to address to win-over end-users. But they've also got a lot of work to do to provide a compelling reason to change, even if you do trust it. That will probably come in the form of check-in and coupon apps, but there are definitely privacy concerns with that sort of thing.

[crossy]

Personally don't like the idea at all, plus I can't see the older generations picking up this idea, so its not really going to become main stream service for decades.

Don't like the idea of someone being able to steal my phone and then go on a shopping spree with it, in the age of digital crime and fraud, this just seems like a dream come true for criminals.

+1 on this. I almost threw something at the t.v. when I was recently watching some programme on this, and the banking person said that they weren't that bothered about fraud etc because it's only designed for small payment amounts. Was mindful of the old cliché about looking after the pennies and then the pounds look after themselves.

Whilst I see the attraction of being able to buy a newspaper or get a Starbucks (or whatever caffeine seller you like) in a big city, I still fail to see a convincing argument for it elsewhere where you're not going to get your head kicked in for taking the time to sort out some change to pay up with. Conversely, and maybe I'm being cynical, if stuff like parking meters move to coinless payment, then doesn't that just make it so much easier for the powers-that-be to up the charges at will?

Like someone else said - maybe I'm just too old to "get it".

[Phage]

Prepaid anonymous accounts are fine. Like the Oyster card. Your liability is limited to whatever you've cahregd it up with. In places where speed is of the essence, like a long queue, I can see real benefits.

[Brewster0101]

Prepaid anonymous accounts are fine. Like the Oyster card. Your liability is limited to whatever you've cahregd it up with. In places where speed is of the essence, like a long queue, I can see real benefits.

Now the idea of a simple card to flash with pre paid amounts on it sounds alot better and safer. User is responsible for amounts they put on it and could loose in theft. Simple card is not as much a target for theft as a phone is.

Sounds like a better idea.

[Saracen]

Prepaid anonymous accounts are fine. Like the Oyster card. Your liability is limited to whatever you've cahregd it up with. In places where speed is of the essence, like a long queue, I can see real benefits.

Now that I can go along with. But not something that identifies me to even more retailers, and most emphatically not something linked to my bank account.

It is, as aidanjt said, a data protection issue for me, but also, a liability one, which is one reason I use a PAYG phone, not a contract one.

[crossy]

Prepaid anonymous accounts are fine. Like the Oyster card. Your liability is limited to whatever you've cahregd it up with. In places where speed is of the essence, like a long queue, I can see real benefits.

Now that I can go along with. But not something that identifies me to even more retailers, and most emphatically not something linked to my bank account. It is, as aidanjt said, a data protection issue for me, but also, a liability one, which is one reason I use a PAYG phone, not a contract one.

Very true. All the NFC payment systems I've read about for phones all seem to run on the basis that your charges will be paid for from your bill automatically - which surely means that it's a contract-only feature.

Agree with Phage that having the NFC hardware in the phone is fine, but having some kind of separate wallet "app" that you manually top up would be the best idea. That way you could use pre-paid vouchers (a la PAYG airtime), or permit £n to be charged to your mobile bill - "countersigned" with a password. Of course, doing it this way also means that PAYG customers can participate - with the automatic charge-to-mobile-bill approach surely you could end up quickly with a phone with no minutes left on it, and hence useless.

Here's a supplementary thought - NFC seems to be used for outgoing payments only. If you had this "wallet" app, then surely shouldn't it be possible to get in-coming transactions too. So, if you're at Asda/Sainsbury's/Tesco/etc when they ask if you want cash back that could include this kind of electronic cash too. And does anyone know if you can do NFC-NFC transactions - so if you wanted to pay a tradesman (window cleaner for example) you could do it this way?