Monitise Regulatory News (MONI)

17 July 2013

Shoppers more willing to buy by mobile when banks lead the way

Ease of use and loyalty offers among leading triggers to drive m-commerce via banks

European smartphone shoppers are even more confident engaging in mobile commerce if they could do so using services provided by their bank, according to research published today by the Future Foundation.

The research, commissioned by Mobile Money experts Monitise, reveals six-in-10 UK smartphone users (57%) would feel more confident buying goods and services by mobile if they could use apps provided by their bank. This confidence is even stronger among Spanish consumers at 68% while 50% of smartphone owners in Germany feel the same way.

The Future Foundation report, 'M-commerce: What consumers want from financial institutions', found that more than 50% of UK respondents are already buying goods on their smartphones.

According to the research, leading factors likely to prompt UK consumers to buy products and services via a bank app include ease-of-use at 60%, incentives such as loyalty schemes at 49%, direct insights from their bank on the state of their finances and budgets at 46% and convenience at 37%. More than half of those surveyed would trust sites endorsed by a bank, varying from 51% in Germany and 57% in the UK to 68% in Spain.

Also among the findings, smartphone shoppers say they are more open to buying higher value items if it can be done through a bank app. Tickets for travel such as flights and trains were the most popular items cited, at 65%, 47% and 45% among Spanish, German and UK consumers respectively. Tickets for services such as entertainment and sporting events were the second most popular items.

The study also found:  

·; The experiences most liked by UK consumers when using smartphones to buy are: ease-of-use (69%), speed (51%), using a known and trusted brand (43%), search (30%) and access to discounts (19%).

·; Leading factors that would encourage UK consumers to buy via their smartphone in order of preference are confidence in the security of the transaction and security of the phone at 50% and 51% respectively, engaging with trusted brands at 30%, access to offers and promotions at 27% and the increased convenience relative to personal computers at 26%.

·; On a scale of one to five, checking bank balances was ranked as the single most important additional service for consumers to connect to prior to making a purchase and more important than being able to access price comparison sites or peer reviews.

·; Some 48% of UK consumers who own smartphones want to research, plan and organise their finances using their mobiles, compared with 53% in Spain and 54% in Germany.

"We're clearly seeing how today's mobile generation is more comfortable than ever in managing their money and making purchases on the move. Financial institutions have an important role to play in this," said Barry Clark, the author of the Future Foundation report.

Commenting on the research findings, Monitise Group Chief Executive Alastair Lukies said: "Consumers place a high degree of trust in their bank's brand and like all payments ecosystems it is this collaboration to create and share in a bigger prize that will be most successful. The winning solutions will be built on these partnerships within digital payments and we are very encouraged to see banks, mobile operators and retailers beginning to work together for the consumer."

Notes to Editors

The Future Foundation report, 'M-Commerce: What Consumers want from Financial Institutions', is the fifth in a series of 'Money on the Move' studies into the role of technology and Mobile Money. 

The report by the consumer futures agency was conducted in May 2013 using an online sample of 1,500 smartphone users in the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain. Within the sample, the Future Foundation included 300 people who use a smartphone for banking purposes. This research is supplemented by Future Foundation global data and the agency also interviewed three leading experts in banking, telecommunications and mobile marketing to give it a guide to the future.

The Future Foundation's report 'M-Commerce: What consumers want from financial institutions' can be downloaded via the following link: http://info.monitise.com/FutureFoundationReport0713.html

About Monitise

Monitise (LSE: MONI) is a world leader in Mobile Money - banking, paying and buying with a mobile device. Leading banks, payments companies, retailers and mobile networks utilise Monitise's technology platforms and services to securely connect people with their money. 

Already over 20 million consumers benefit from our patented technology to 'bank anywhere', 'pay anyone' and 'buy anything' accounting for over $30 billion of payments, purchases and transfers annually. More information is available at www.monitise.com

For further information

Monitise plc Tel: +44(0)203 657 0900

Alastair Lukies, Chief Executive Officer

Lee Cameron, Chief Commercial Officer

Brad Petzer, Chief Financial Officer

Mike Keyworth, Chief Information Officer

Investor Relations

Haya Herbert-Burns, Andrew Griffin Tel: +44(0)203 657 0366

investorrelations@monitise.com

Media Relations

Gavin Haycock Tel: +44(0)203 657 0362

Gavin.haycock@monitise.com

Canaccord Genuity

Simon Bridges Tel: +44(0)20 7523 8000

Cameron Duncan

FTI Consulting Tel: +44(0)20 7831 3113

Charles Palmer

Jon Snowball