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Womply then sends targeted customer engagement But adoption remains lackluster for most. Only 27 percent
emails to keep a client business on the customer's radar. of U.S. consumers with eligible iPhones were using Apple
The software platform also provides various management Pay last year, for example, and just 8 percent of those were
tools to help businesses track customer engagement and using the payment app weekly. This is according to data
value. compiled by First Annapolis Consulting, a division of
Accenture. Activation and usage numbers are even more
Getting mobile ready for prime time dismal for Samsung Pay and Android Pay, according to
Small business owners are by no means technology that data.
neophytes. Consider, for example, that 30 percent of
millennials, the most technologically savvy generation, Auriemma Consulting Group reported that total mobile
have launched small businesses, according to The Center payment usage among all eligible consumers fell from 30
for Generational Kinetics based in Austin, Texas. percent to 25 percent between October 2016 and October
2017. A report prepared last year by Forrester Consulting
Meanwhile, research recently completed by Advance LLC for JPMorgan Chase also revealed falling usage.
Publications Inc.'s The Business Journals, a publisher of
metropolitan business newsweeklies, revealed that In describing the situation, the report stated, "Consumer
wireless services and apps are considered by small and merchant digital wallet adoption is taking a short
business owners to be "very" or "extremely" critical to their break in preparation for the next wave of progress. At
business operations. the end of this break, consumers will be more savvy and
demanding and will have higher expectations as they see
That same research suggested, however, that most small more capabilities emerge in digital and mobile payments,
businesses aren't able to leverage these technologies for like order-ahead, self-service pay and instant coupons and
customer engagement. Only 34 percent of small business reward redemption."
owners believe they are using mobile to transform
customer experiences; 64 percent said their companies Many experts have suggested the sheer number of
had websites; of those, 28 percent were unsure if those available mobile payment options stymies widespread
websites were optimized for mobile access. adoption. Auriemma's research points to several other
reasons, including consumer concerns about security and
The biggest obstacles to mobile engagement for most ease of checkout.
small businesses are time and resources, Plothow said.
Technology partners offer a means for overcoming those Thirty-two percent of consumers surveyed by Auriemma
obstacles to providing the kind of mobile experiences in 2017 cited security concerns as a top barrier to using
consumers want. their mobile devices for payments. "In an environment of
heightened consumer anxiety regarding data breaches,
The mobile centricity of U.S. consumers is well document- it is critical to clearly communicate mobile payments'
ed. In 2017, the average adult American spent two hours security to consumers," said Jaclyn Holmes, Director of
and 25 minutes a day using mobile apps, according to Payment Insights at Auriemma.
eMarketer Inc. This year, the daily average is projected to
reach two hours and 35 minutes. But consumers are selec- Keith McAuliffe, General Manager for Financial Services
tive, spending the bulk of their time using just five prima- at Solace Inc., which specializes in data movement
ry apps, several researchers reported. While the five vary technology, added, "We're seeing a lot of companies
by individual, they tend to be dominated by messaging, focused on security concerns, and improving the customer
music, games and social networking. experience."
"Word of mouth has gone online," Plothow said in McAuliffe is optimistic about the future of mobile wallets
discussing the impact of social media on business and mobile payments. He suggested that as millennials
referrals. When looking for a new plumber, for example, age, their strong affinity for all things mobile will draw
fewer people are calling friends for recommendations; them increasingly to mobile payments. He also pointed to
they turn instead to social media sites like Google and the rising popularity of rideshare and restaurant order-
Yelp, he noted. ahead apps as trends that make paying by mobile seem
more natural. "As that builds out, we'll see others becoming
Mobile payment hiccups more comfortable with it," he said.
So, what about payments? It's been four years since Forrester had this advice for merchants: "Be ready to
Apple Inc. launched Apple Pay, and since then numerous capitalize on the increasing awareness and interest for
competitors have entered the market, including Google, not just a better paying experience, but a better overall
Samsung, and a bank consortium called Zelle. Even big shopping experience."
name retailers like Target and Walmart have rolled out
mobile wallets.

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