Consumers are open to a variety of electronic-wallet business models, but what they want most is for their primary financial institutions to offer them.

This observation comes from the "2012 Consumer Payments Preferences and Usage Study: E-wallet Opportunities and Challenges," which was released this week by Phoenix Payments, a Phoenix Marketing International company.

The study reveals consumer preferences and attitudes about e-wallets, as well as their use (or willingness to use) three different business models of e-wallets: Tap-and-Pay; the Paypal model; and a financial app for a smartphone or tablet device. Findings from the study including the following:

• Roughly 33 percent of all households and 50 percent of smartphone users are aware of e-wallet products. 
• About 25 percent of households hold positive views regarding e-wallet products, approximately 33 percent are neutral and the remainder are negative — generally due to concerns about e-wallet security.
• One-sixth of study participants said they would use the products if they were made available to them. This translates to 20 percent of households that were previously aware of the products and 25 percent of existing smartphone users.
• More than 75 percent of interested users would prefer to obtain e-wallet services from their primary bank or financial institution.

"There is clear early demand for these services, and a clear willingness to obtain them through existing financial relationships," said Leon Majors, president of Phoenix Payments. "But providers need to narrow the focus to the key services consumers wish to attach to these products."

The annual Consumer Payments Preferences Study was conducted online in August 2012, and surveyed slightly more than 4,200 consumers in a representation of the online U.S. population stratified on an age/income census distribution.

For more on this topic, visit the trends/statistics research center.

graphic courtesy of Phoenix Payments