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Why Millennials are the Next Mobile Disruptors According to Mitek

October 7, 2015         By: Mike Dautner

Milliennials are at the fore of technology, this we know, and this is unlikely to change. As such, their willingness to use mobile devices for virtually any service available is well accounted for. In this light, Mitek conducted a report with the help of Zogby Analytics to dig deeper on millennial mobile usages, and the prospect of using mobile payment methods in particular.

We wanted to learn more about the research, as such, conducted a brief Q&A with Mitek President and CEO, James B. DeBello:

Why are millennials so inclined to utilize their mobile devices to make payments?

Millennials have grown up with constantly changing technology. They don’t know anything other than learning and re-learning the latest technology so accepting their mobile device for payments is not a stretch for them. This cohort frequently makes transactions and purchases via mobile sites or apps – 49 percent at least a few times a week.

How can companies leverage the convenience of taking a picture as opposed to typing a text?

Sixty-eight percent of Millennials said that they would always rather use mobile capture instead of manually typing information on their smartphone.

Businesses that want to engage with Millennials need to take notice of this trend and add mobile capture to their payment apps, because just being mobile isn’t enough anymore. Millennials want to snap pictures instead of filling out forms or typing information in nearly every industry. So there is a huge opportunity here for businesses to be first to meet that demand.

Can you expand on the enrollment via using one’s driver’s license?

According to our survey, 28 percent of Millennials want to enroll for everything from a new credit card, to a gym membership by taking a picture of their driver’s license. With new mobile capture technologies, consumers can simply take a picture of the front and the back of a driver’s license and the validated data is automatically populated into the account opening application so the consumer does not need to manually type the information on their mobile phone.

Why do you think millennials place so much emphasis on the importance of camera capabilities within their smartphones?

The smartphone camera is a borderline addiction for Millennials. They love the convenience of taking a picture for data capture and they want to be doing more of it. Nearly 50 percent said that their smartphone was “practically useless” without a camera.

Are these methods for payments via smartphones projected to increase in popularity in the coming years?

The Millennial desire to do everything on their mobile device is increasingly becoming a commerce disruptor, as they want to digitize all commerce through their mobile camera. In fact, last year more than half said they would pay for goods using their mobile device. This year’s survey found that Millennials have moved beyond wishing, with 86 percent making purchases/conducting transactions from their smartphone, with 11 percent doing so daily. And to highlight Millennials’ expectations for using the camera to make mobile payments, 83 percent think mobile capture will be part of all mobile transactions in the next five years.