Global Consumer Survey: 68 Percent of Respondents Not Using Mobile Financial Services – Innovative Use Cases to Drive the Next Phase of Growth

Savings, loans, insurance and payment solutions for medical treatment and education are the key applications consumers would like to use in the next 12 months

ST. LOUIS - September 29, 2015 - Amdocs, the leading provider of customer experience solutions, today released the results from a new global survey around mobile financial services (MFS) which revealed that more than 68 percent of the respondents have yet to use mobile financial services, and that new innovative solutions for savings, loans, and insurance will drive the next phase of mobile financial services growth across emerging and mature markets. Conducted by analyst and consultancy firm Ovum on behalf of Amdocs, the survey focused on both users and non-users of mobile financial services worldwide. 8,500 consumers were surveyed in 17 countries across emerging and mature markets including UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, US, Canada, India, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, South Africa, and Ghana.

"Consumers who have adopted mobile financial services appreciate the benefits these services can bring. The ubiquity and convenience – the ability to use mobile financial services anytime, anywhere – was the overwhelming benefit cited by survey respondents in both emerging and mature markets. These are immediate, tangible benefits and a powerful riposte to those who say there is no value in mobile financial services," said Eden Zoller, principal analyst with Ovum. "This represents positive progress but mobile financial services providers can't afford to be complacent as the research clearly shows that there are fundamental issues and challenges that still need to be addressed, ranging from security concerns and ease of use, to lack of awareness."

Key findings include:

• Lack of market awareness and misperceptions about mobile financial services are still key concerns – The majority of the survey respondents either do not use mobile payments or financial services applications, or are unaware of them – this is more pronounced in emerging markets (73 percent) compared to mature markets (62 percent). While 31 percent of respondents in emerging markets said that they were unaware of mobile payments or financial services, this figure was lower in mature markets (23 percent). 34 percent of respondents in emerging markets said that they were aware but had no plans to use the services, compared to 30 percent of respondents in mature markets. Respondents who have downloaded the application or subscribed the service but still don't use it showed similar trends in mature (9 percent) and emerging (8 percent) markets.

• Savings, loans, insurance & payment solutions for medical treatment and education services will drive the next level of growth in mobile financial services – 25 percent of respondents in emerging markets said they're likely to adopt advanced mobile financial services products – savings, loans, and insurance – in the next year, compared to 16 percent in mature markets. In some mature markets such as the UK and Sweden, the likelihood was much higher, ranging from 17 to 30 percent. Emerging markets (22 percent) are more likely to adopt mobile financial services for making payments for medical treatment and education services than the mature markets (15 percent).

• Increased security, low transaction charges, ease of use, rewards for using the service, and service ubiquity are key adoption drivers – Increased security was identified as the most important factor for driving adoption in both mature (40 percent) and emerging (39 percent) markets. The preference for low transaction charges and fees show a similar trend in both mature and emerging markets (30 percent). What is perhaps more surprising is that almost a third of respondents in both mature (30 percent) and emerging (29 percent) markets would adopt the services if they were easier to use, illustrating the fact that ease of use is still an issue. One third of the mature market respondents (30 percent) would use mobile financial services if they were offered rewards, compared to 25 percent in emerging markets. A quarter of the respondents in both mature (24 percent) and emerging (25 percent) markets said they would use mobile financial services if they could use them anywhere, and at any time.

"Driving the next phase of growth is the biggest challenge, globally, for mobile financial service providers," said Patrick McGrory, division president for Amdocs' emerging offerings. "While the mature markets such as the US, Norway, and the UK need compelling value propositions, emerging markets such as Ghana, South Africa, Brazil, India, Philippines, and Mexico need innovative solutions that can deliver a range of affordable mobile financial services that are a viable alternative to traditional banking services. Communications service providers who take the lead in overcoming these challenges are set to reduce churn, improve customer stickiness, and tap new revenue streams.

Amdocs' MFS solution, which powers more than 30 customers' systems, serving 500 million users across the globe, is designed to better address the need for financial inclusion in the emerging markets as well as offer innovative and exciting new services to mature markets, which will accelerate adoption, encourage active usage, and drive loyalty."