In light of Paypal’s most recent update that allows customers to make purchases from thousands of merchants using your online Paypal balance, I decided to look further into what’s going on in this mobile space. It’s incredibly fascinating…and utterly terrifying. I found this infographic to help explain what’s going on in the area.
The most important mobile payment infographic. Ever.
On one hand, paying for goods/services with mobile devices is technologically forward.
Mercator Advisory Group just released a study explaining how minorities and adults are leading the way with mobile payment use.
This makes sense.
What makes this finding interesting is that these two populations loosely define the Millennial generation–the future of this country’s consumer base. 
This means that researchers like me will be interested in investigating what elements are at play when/if they decide how they interact with mobile environments. Wish me luck, lol.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston confirms this research area by reporting that consumers almost never switch their payment type over time. This means that if minorities and young adults latch on to mobile payments like the above report suggests, then they will be pretty loyal to this method into old age. (Think about all the seniors you’ve stood behind in the grocery store who still pay with check!)
On the other hand, what about all of the consumer data that businesses will be able to collect?
We’re already concerned with the data that Facebook has on us and they’re getting into the mobile payments business as well. Think about how much more poignant the information Paypal will be able to analyze as they suggest nearby businesses that accept Paypal payments that are within a quarter mile of your workplace.
- They’ll know where you spend a lot of your time.
- They’ll have loads of information about your purchase preferences
- Who knows what else they’ll know…
One company found that their customers were largely resistant to mobile payments perhaps for that very reason. I think that mobile payments will take over the majority of daily purchases. Like most revolutionary ideas, it’s scary at first. Decades from now, we’ll wonder how we ever got along without them.
What do you think? Do you use mobile payments already? What do you think of them? Discuss in the comments.