Europe Set to Be a Hotbed of Mobile Finance

By Michael Moore

Mobile firms are being advised to look closely at wider expansion across European markets after the continent was identified as the next big growth market for mobile financial services.

That’s according to a survey from software firm Amdocs, which found that that almost 50 percent of European respondents have yet to use any form of mobile financial services (MFS) such as banking systems or medical payments.

However, there are signs of growth, as the survey, carried out with analyst firm Ovum, found that 15 percent of European respondents are likely to use MFS and products within the next 12 months, opening up a huge potential market for service providers.

Engagement

In the United Kingdom, consumers also were positive about engaging with such services, with 50 percent saying they would be likely to use mobile payments if they’re offered rewards for usage.

Overall, greater data security was identified as the most important factor in increasing adoption of MFS, with nearly half (45 percent) of respondents citing it. This was followed by service ubiquity (44 percent) and rewards (37 percent), with low transaction charges (32 percent) and ease of use (30 percent) also mentioned as potential motivations for using MFS.

“Driving the next phase of adoption and growth is the biggest challenge for mobile financial services providers in mature markets like Europe,” said Patrick McGrory, Amdocs division president for emerging offerings.

“The market needs compelling value propositions and advanced solutions to address this challenge. Amdocs’ integrated wallet solution with seamless payment processing capabilities, along with expert deployment and managed services, enable service providers to deliver new and exciting mobile financial services, which encourage active usage and drive customer loyalty.”

The United Kingdom has long been recognized as a global leader in adopting mobile payment and other services, with a recent survey by Deloitte discovering that 34 percent of 18-34 year olds in the United Kingdom were positive toward using mobile payments, meaning the technology should take off far quicker here than other countries.

A separate Mastercard study also found that one in four British consumers said that they expected to make a contactless payment with their mobile in the next year as more and more of us use our device to pay for goods and services.