Not Yet Mature

 

Market research firm GfK announced on March 21 that it conducted an online survey with 5,000 smartphone users in the United States, Korea, China, Great Britain, and Germany and only 35 percent of them answered that they are interested in mobile payments based on smart watches. According to the result, 28 percent of those in Korea are interested in that type of payment service, while the percentage is 40 in the United States and 20 in Germany. 

In the meantime, it has been found that most U.S. consumers are still not familiar with Apple Pay released in October last year. According to InfoScout’s recent report, only 6 percent of iPhone 6 users in the U.S. have used the mobile payment service, whereas 85 percent have never attempted to do so. The other 9 percent tried to use it but failed, as they forgot how to use it or did not know where an affiliate was. The report is based on the answers from 1,188 iPhone 6 users who participated in the survey last week. 

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users can make payments by using his or her credit cards in the handset at any affiliate store having an NFC terminal. Apple Pay is compatible with the Apple Watch, too. Apple is trying to increase the number of such stores, restaurants, financial institutions, and public institutions in North America these days, but payment errors have been reported with frequency. 

With Apple Pay shunned by not a few consumers, attention is being paid to the initial performance of the Samsung Pay that is scheduled to make its debut next month. Samsung Pay supports not only NFC payment as Apple does but also supports magnetic secure transmission (MST). Samsung Electronics predicts that its payment service will be more universal, as about 90 percent of affiliates in the U.S. use magnetic card readers. 

In fact, NFC-based payment was introduced in Korea six years ago. However, most stores like restaurants and supermarkets were unwilling to purchase an NFC terminal in addition to their magnetic card readers, which caused the new payment method to fizzle out. A similar thing is happening in the U.S. nowadays, which is why many people are considering Samsung Pay to be more viable, even though it might take time until mobile payments in general become commonplace.

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