Research by YouGov suggests that students, that is those in full time education over the age of 18, are more likely to use their smartphones to manage their finances than any other group in Britain.
YouGov’s research was sponsored by UK digital banking provider, Intelligent Environments, and found that 53% of students who own a smartphone would manage their bank accounts via their mobile device if they could, compared to 44% of people in the full time workplace.
A quarter of students with a smartphone said they would use their mobile for peer to peer transfers, such as mobile app Pingit, versus 22% of people in full or part time employment.
Half of workers (49%) and students (47%) admitted they would be interested in using their mobile device, if possible, to swipe across a payment reader to ‘wave and pay’ for goods or services.
Half of Britons already now own smartphones (51%), compared to just 33% this time last year.
"The tipping point for smartphone ownership has finally arrived. With over half the adult population of Great Britain now in possession of one of these devices, it is clear that they have become integral to consumers’ lives, helping them to conduct day-to-day tasks with relative speed and ease. With mobile ‘wallet’ services adding to the growing list of smartphone capabilities, the use of mobile money applications is only going to grow," said James Richards, VP of Mobile at Intelligent Environments.
"Already we are seeing more banks and mobile network operators roll out mobile payments offerings while handset manufacturers and retailers are introducing NFC technology and point of sale terminals in the run up to the Olympics."
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Android continues to be the most popular operating system, accounting for 36% market share, followed by Apple’s iOS mobile devices (31%) and BlackBerry’s 15%.
This shows Android expanding its lead, it held 28% last year compared to the 26% on iPhones.
Students also said they would be interested in using their mobile device to swipe across a payment reader to ‘wave and pay’ for goods or services (47%), versus 49% of working people.
Men are more likely than women to manage their finances on a smartphone (46% vs. 37%), pay for tickets and events (32% vs. 27%), shop online (42% vs. 39%) and pay bills (35% vs. 32%).
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Further reading:
CBR’s April feature on mobile payments (from the print edition)
Q&A with Barclays concerning updates to its new Pingit banking app
Long delayed O2 Mobile Wallet finally launches
UK banks still have low aspirations for mobile
Q&A: Sybase365’s Diarmiud Mallon – mobile to kill-off cash payments
