NEW YORK: Young Americans aged 18 to 24, who are dubbed Generation Z, are twice as likely to make a mobile payment as the total population, according to a new survey.
Based on responses from 1,000 US consumers, research firm GfK found mobile devices account for only 3% of all transactions in the US, but this rises to 7% among Gen Z mobile users.
More than half (53%) of this age group said they had made a mobile payment in the past six months, or four times more than the 14% of Baby Boomers (50- to 68-year-olds) who said the same.
The proportions for Gen Y (ages 25 to 35) and Gen X (ages 35 to 49) were 37% and 27% respectively.
Gen Z's greater willingness to use mobile payments is no doubt linked to a far higher level of trust among these young consumers.
Almost a third (31%) agreed that "making payments with a mobile device is more secure than other methods", or nearly double the level among the general population (16%), and five times more than Baby Boomers (6%).
Furthermore, more than half (53%) said they looked forward to paying "more and more transactions" on mobile devices, compared to the overall US average of 27%.
However, the ongoing issue of personal information was another topic covered in the survey, which uncovered surprising uniformity across the generations.
Just over half (52%) of all respondents expressed concern about their personal information when making mobile payments. This rose to 55% of Gen Z, who even registered slightly higher levels of concern than Baby Boomers (51%).
Commenting on the report, Tim Spenny, VP of GfK Financial Services, said: "Many consumers today do not understand the value proposition offered by mobile payments.
"This creates an opportunity for the industry to develop its own narrative around why people should use mobile devices to pay for their purchases – with security, speed, and ease of use top among the reasons."
Based on responses from 1,000 US consumers, research firm GfK found mobile devices account for only 3% of all transactions in the US, but this rises to 7% among Gen Z mobile users.
More than half (53%) of this age group said they had made a mobile payment in the past six months, or four times more than the 14% of Baby Boomers (50- to 68-year-olds) who said the same.
The proportions for Gen Y (ages 25 to 35) and Gen X (ages 35 to 49) were 37% and 27% respectively.
Gen Z's greater willingness to use mobile payments is no doubt linked to a far higher level of trust among these young consumers.
Almost a third (31%) agreed that "making payments with a mobile device is more secure than other methods", or nearly double the level among the general population (16%), and five times more than Baby Boomers (6%).
Furthermore, more than half (53%) said they looked forward to paying "more and more transactions" on mobile devices, compared to the overall US average of 27%.
However, the ongoing issue of personal information was another topic covered in the survey, which uncovered surprising uniformity across the generations.
Just over half (52%) of all respondents expressed concern about their personal information when making mobile payments. This rose to 55% of Gen Z, who even registered slightly higher levels of concern than Baby Boomers (51%).
Commenting on the report, Tim Spenny, VP of GfK Financial Services, said: "Many consumers today do not understand the value proposition offered by mobile payments.
"This creates an opportunity for the industry to develop its own narrative around why people should use mobile devices to pay for their purchases – with security, speed, and ease of use top among the reasons."
Data sourced from GfK; additional content by Warc staff
