The use of contactless card payments has rocketed in the last couple of years, and with the launch of Apple Pay and now Android Pay, mobile payments have become the central talking point in the payments industry. In the UK, the sector is still new, and consumer concerns over security and usability have yet to be fully eased. However, as use of these services increases and the process is seen to be more ‘normal’, mobile payments will become a mainstream payment channel in the coming years, significantly displacing plastic card payments.

This Report looks at consumer attitudes towards mobile payments. This includes an examination of the market context surrounding contactless and mobile payments and regulatory changes in the industry, as well as looking at the main mobile payment services and innovations. Mintel’s exclusive consumer research investigates the type of payments people make, how aware they are of mobile payment services and what types of transactions are made through smartphones.

Finally the Report examines consumer attitudes such as why people would choose to use make mobile payments, their thoughts on the security of these payments, and consumer concerns about the usability of the technology.

For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:

A number of the best-known mobile payment services involve transferring money via an app, rather than making a point-of-sale transaction. This includes the most well-known and widely used payments service, PayPal. These schemes are often used to transfer funds between individuals, but can also be used to pay companies.

Point-of-sale mobile payment services are schemes which allow in-store purchases. Currently, most of these services rely on near-field communication (NFC) technology. These are the systems which are most closely associated with the term mobile payments as a competitor to cash and cards. This includes Apple Pay and Android Pay.