The Fourth Consumers & Convergence Report, an annual KPMG survey which examines how consumers use technology has found that despite concerns over privacy and data security, consumers in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are actively embracing mobile networks as their de facto telecommunications standard. Covering 22 countries, the 2010 report surveyed over 5,600 people on their day-to-day use of mobiles and PC technology.
The study shows that consumers in the world’s fastest developing economies, India and China, are leading the drive for personal banking and retail transactions via their mobiles, according to a new survey by KPMG.
Respondents from BRIC nations have demonstrated greater willingness to pay for both online and mobile content, compared to G7 or global users, including content like news and information. The survey found they would also consider switching internet service providers for exclusive content.
According to the survey, consumers, particularly in Asia Pacific (ASPAC) are increasingly adopting a variety of mobile and cloud-computing applications. They are also more willing to use their mobile phones for financial transactions, as well as receiving ads in return for cheaper basic services.
In India, despite concerns over privacy and data security, 38 percent of respondents said they have used their mobiles to shop from a retailer’s site, and 43 percent for banking transactions (A significant increase over the previous survey, 8 percent and 3 percent respectively).
This is a global trend too. Compared with only 18 months ago, the global percentage of respondents who have used their mobile device for banking has more than doubled from 19 percent to 46 percent, while the percentage that have used it to buy goods and services has increased from 10 percent to 28 percent.
Jehil Thakkar, Executive Director, KPMG in India said: “Of those surveyed India, 5 percent of total respondents conduct banking through a mobile device almost daily while 10 percent do so weekly. 43 percent of those surveyed said that they have done banking through their mobile device at some point. This number was insignificant when compared to our last survey that used data of 2008. These results clearly indicate that mobile banking is being rapidly embraced by the Indian consumer.”
Report Highlights:
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Consumers have a paradoxical view of privacy: 78 percent of Indian consumers are concerned of unauthorized access to Personally Identifiable Information (PII). However, 65 percent are willing to allow their on-line usage and profile information to be tracked if it results in lower costs.
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Mobile Banking Catches Fire: Within 18 months, Indian consumers have shown a greater level of comfort in using their mobile phone for a financial transaction. 43 percent of consumers in 2010, say they have used their mobile devices for banking, as compared to only 3 percent in 2008.
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Shopping hits the road: There is a four-fold rise in Indian consumers’ usage of mobile phones for on-line shopping, as compared to 2008.
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Blue skies ahead for consumer services: Two thirds of all individuals surveyed, currently use “Cloud Services” for applications such as email, photo sharing and video sharing. The results for India are higher with as many as 88 percent of respondents saying that they use cloud computing services.
Service providers have the opportunity and challenge to address the needs of early adopters and more sophisticated mobile consumers in all regions, but particularly in ASPAC. The expanding sophistication of the global user base has led to dynamic shifts in consumer attitudes with strategic and tactical implications for a number of industries including technology, telecommunications, media, retail and financial services.