Google has thrown in with near field communication (NFC) mobile payments in a big way, as evidenced by itsAndroid manufacturer partnerships and the test run of the Google Wallet app. But while Google may be buying into NFC in a big way, consumers may not be loving the idea of the Goog having that much control over their virtual wallets.
This idea is suggested by a study conducted into mobile shopping habits by Ogilvy & Mather, which was reported in turn by Ad Age.
The research firm asked 500 online survey takers “Who do you trust with mobile payments?” and gave a list of eleven providers that could be chosen without limit. The traditional credit card companies (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, even PayPal) dominated the list, with Google all the way down at number eight.
Just under twenty percent of respondents said that Google had their trust in this arena. For comparison, Visa topped the list with forty percent or so, while Facebook took the bottom with twelve percent. Apple was the leading consumer technology company on the chart, beating Google with a 23% trust rating. And above Apple was the United States Postal Service, at 25%.
It really strikes me as odd that not a single company listed scored above that forty percent mark. Is there really no single company that customers trust with their mobile device transactions?
An obvious solution is for Google to partner up with more trusted companies and reap the combined boost in reputation. And in fact, Google Wallet is already provided in partnership with both Citibank and MasterCard, even during the current limited trial.
Meanwhile, Visa is throwing its weight around to bolster the overall NFC infrastructure here in the United States, which can only help perception of mobile payment providers across the board.
But at the end of the day, there are really only two questions to ask. First, do you trust Google with your mobile payments? And second, do you trust mobile payments at all?
