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News in-depth: Contactless technology awareness rising
6 Jul 2012

The number of UK consumers who know about contactless payment technology is on the rise, a new study has revealed.

According to data from the YouGov Mobile Wallet survey, more than  a third (36 per cent) of Britons are aware of contactless payments.

The market research firm found that major launches of new contactless payment and mobile wallet services by the likes of Barclays, Orange and O2 have helped boost public knowledge of the new technology.

However, the research suggested that the firms behind mobile payments have to work harder on marketing, with just 12 per cent of consumers intending to begin using the technology during the next 24 months.

Furthermore, just 12 per cent of the population were found to know what near field communication (NFC) was and only two per cent are currently using an NFC-enabled smartphone to make mobile payments.

When it comes to making payments, the main advantages cited by consumers were convenience, speed and ease.

Convenience was the number one benefit with 76 per cent, while 68 per cent mentioned speed and 65 per cent said it is easier to make a payment using a mobile.

John Gilbert, a consulting director at YouGov specialising in technology and telecoms, revealed that for mobile payments to truly take off consumers need to be shown that the technology is secure and more work has to be done to communicate its benefits.

"Furthermore, there appears to be some confusion as to which 'pillar' of the industry will take charge," he said. "Will it be handset manufacturers? Banks? Mobile operators? Retailers?"

Mr Gilbert added that he believes the upcoming London 2012 Olympics could help boost awareness and demand for mobile payments, and the fact that the Post Office has recently installed contactless point of sale terminals at all branches around the Olympic sites will certainly help this.