Canadians not enthused by the thought of using Google Wallet or NFC payments
Posted by Seth Planck
October 11th, 2011 at 10:33 PM
Canadians not enthused by the thought of using Google Wallet or NFC payments
It turns out Canadians are still not convinced about using Google Wallet or NFC payments in general. In a poll conducted on behalf of ITBusiness.ca Canadians generally elicited a lukewarm response to using Google Wallet or other NFC payments services and showed a distinct interest in offers, coupons and discount codes. The poll questioned 1016 respondents and was conducted between September 23rd and September 25th.
When asked if they’d consider using Google Wallet, Canadians showed that they weren’t sold. Nearly a third (31%) of Canadians said they would “never use it” and 33% said “I may or may not use it.”
Over in the UK, NFC payment acceptance has steadily risen over the last six months, but it is becoming evident that the same cannot be said for Canadians, which is ironic because Canadian infrastructure has embraced the nascent NFC technology in many facets of life.
One in Ten would use Google Wallet NFC payments as soon as it is available
Only 10 percent of Canadians said they would use Google Wallet as soon as it’s available, and one in four could see themselves using it eventually.
When asked the question, “When you consider using your smartphone to pay for items in this way, what issue gives you the most concern?” overwhelmingly, Canadians said they didn’t trust the security of the NFC payments system, with 25% agreeing with these concerns. Another 27% said they “already have enough ways to pay for things” and 17% are “worried about losing my phone.” This shows a need for the educational process when it comes to NFC payments or NFC mobile wallets like Google Wallet.
Security is one of the benefits of using your NFC phone as a wallet, but the general public still feels that the payment method is an unknown. If Google Wallet and other NFC mobile wallets want to win over Canadians, there is going to need to be dollars spent on education and marketing.