Consumers not sold on the 'Pays,' study finds

Adoption rates are declining for the major «Pays» – Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay – according to the latest tracking results from Rhinebeck, New York-based Phoenix Marketing International

The number of smartphone owners linking a credit card dipped to 16 percent as of Q4 2017 – the lowest rate in the last two years of quarterly measures, according to a press release.

Device owners who have used their mobile wallet at stores say they have encountered problems that many in the industry may have assumed were solved, the release said.

Asked what factors would get them to use one of the Pays more often, 38 percent cited faster transaction times, indicating issues with contactless connections at the point of sale; 33 percent wanted «confidence the terminal would work every time.»

Nearly half (48 percent) said cashiers were «unable to help» with a problem, and 31 percent reported «transactions posted incorrectly.»

«[A]ll of the reasons [for not using a Pay] are the same as they were two years ago,» Phoenix Senior Vice President Leon Majors said in the release.

For its latest tracking survey, Phoenix talked to 23,700 respondents 18 and older who have a general-purpose credit or charge card for personal use. Approximately 4,301 respondents had linked a credit or debit card to one or more of the Pays; of these 3,371 had used a credit card to make a card-present transaction.

Source: ATM Marketplace