Add Mobile Payments or Risk Leaving Money on the Table

It may seem to the outside observer in retail or the like that adding mobile payments is little more than a nice-to-have or a low-priority chore. A new report from NTT DATA, however, suggests that the call to mobile payments is much more urgent than many may have expected.

Simply put, the study found that companies that accepted mobile payments were both growing faster and making more profit than those who didn’t, on average.

Based on a study of 2,300 companies and consumers, the point was clear: companies growing the fastest right now are also most likely accepting mobile payments. Those companies with at least 11 percent annual revenue growth were also using mobile payments in 43 percent of cases. Those who had that level of growth failed to bring in mobile payments in 32 percent of cases.

So while it isn’t axiomatic that mobile payments mean growth, it’s easy to note that mobile payments mean a better likelihood of growth. This point is underscored by a global look, however, as we discover that 58 percent of consumers in developing countries use mobile payments tools at least once a week. In developed countries, that number drops to 39 percent.

NTT Data’s senior practice lead Peter Olynick noted that the study’s results were about what he expected to see, that mobile payments had long had this feeling like they were “just around the corner,” and that now, perhaps, the corner has turned.

With mobile payments systems in general taking on a greater role in the field, and being accepted at more businesses, their value for the user is only going up. When businesses don’t allow mobile payments—particularly in an environment where the users have a vested interest in more mobile payment access—they’re not providing the experience that the customer wants. Failing to provide a desirable customer experience all but ensures the customer will go elsewhere.

Here we have proof not only that customers want mobile payments options, but that customers will go elsewhere if such options aren’t available. Mobile payments aren’t an option any longer, but one that businesses must provide to have the best chance at profitability.