Mobile phones have increasingly become tools that consumers use for banking, payments, budgeting, and shopping. Given the rapid pace of developments in the area of mobile finance, the Federal Reserve Board began conducting annual surveys of consumers’ use of mobile financial services in 2011. This 78-page report, “Consumers and Mobile Financial Services” (March, 2015) examines trends in the adoption and use of mobile banking, payments, and shopping behavior and how the emergence of mobile financial services affects consumers’ interaction with financial institutions.
Apple in Talks with Alibaba for Apple Pay in China
During a recent visit to China, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple is moving forward with talks to roll out Apple Pay in partnership with regional banks and perhaps e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.
Wallet Wars: The Battle for Payments is Just Starting
Starbucks created a lot of buzz about mobile payments when the company release it’s popular mobile payment app in 2011, and indeed Starbucks was on the vanguard of consumer retail mobile payments. And by most measures the Starbucks app should be considered a success. CEO Howard Schultz told investors during a recent earnings call: “Today in the U.S. alone over 13 million customers are actively using our mobile apps and we’re now averaging over 7 million mobile transactions in our stores each week, representing roughly 16% of total tender, more than any other bricks and mortar retailer in the marketplace.” That’s impressive.
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