35 per cent of consumers see mobile banking as “not at all secure”, according to a study by insurance and risk management company Assurant Solutions. The figure is slightly lower for mCommerce transactions, at 27 per cent, but its hardly encouraging. 38 per cent, meanwhile, are concerned about security, hacking and privacy issues.

But its not all bad news. The study – which surveyed 1,000 mobile phone users each in the US, Spain, Germany, Argentina, and China – found that, if protection was guaranteed, the overall frequency of mobile transactions among consumers who already use mobile transactions could be increased by 21 per cent – and 33 per cent of those who dont could be convinced to try.

“When it comes to financial transactions, consumers remain wary about opening their mobile wallet,” says Nino Treusch, Assurant Solutions head of mobile business development for Europe. “Consumers expressed an exponentially higher interest in mobile transactions if secure protection products were an option. Additional protection for devices and data will play a key part in unlocking the potential of the mobile wallet.”