BuzzCity Survey Finds 90% of Mobile Users Have Bought by Mobile
- Friday, March 12th, 2010
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BuzzCity has released the results of its fifth global survey investigating consumer mobile behavior. The survey focuses on the global mobile payments market. BuzzCity questioned 1,798 mobile users across the Americas, Asia, Africa, Western Europe and the Middle East on their use of the mobile as both a banking and payments device, and found that 90% of respondents had used their mobile to directly purchase products or services.
The survey examines two key themes in the mobile money market. Firstly, the use of the mobile as a platform for banking services. 47% of respondents did not know whether their banks offered banking services, and an additional 15% were aware of the offer but had not taken it up. This would indicate that banks still have some way to go in educating consumers about the availability and benefits of mobile banking services.
The second area considered was the use of the mobile platform for transactions. The survey found that although most of these purchases (68%) are related to mobile phone use, such as mobile content and prepaid airtime, users also buy other mainstream products with their mobiles. In fact, 23% have bought from online stores, paid a bill, bought prepaid utilities and made bookings through their mobile.
The survey identified three areas where progress is needed. The first is user education about mobile banking services to increase uptake. The second is the need for more partnerships between banks, operators and merchants to increase the number of products available for purchase. Finally, BuzzCity says that new services need to be developed to enable mobile transactions for those without access to traditional banking facilities
There are clear opportunities for mobile transactions to grow as users, in this and previous surveys, indicate that they want to be able to use their mobiles to buy more goods, such as books, music, travel services, household utilities and electronic appliances, says BuzzCity CEO, KF Lai. Although there have been some developments in transforming the mobile into a banking and payment device, with 29% of the global mobile population still without access to a bank account and 56% without a credit or debit card, banking and mobile transaction providers are overlooking a much wider audience. The potential opportunities are huge, but the diverse challenges faced by the global mobile audience must not be overlooked. Mobile consumers have money to spend, but they must be provided with the opportunity to do so.