Some 72 per cent of executives say that mobile payments are now or will be reasonably important in the future, with 58 per cent reporting they already have a mobile payments strategy in place, according to a KPMG survey.

Nearly 81 per cent of 1,000 business people surveyed in the financial services, technology, telecommunications and retail industries believe convenience/accessibility is the highest attribute of mobile payments, followed by simplicity/ease of use at 73 per cent, security at 57 per cent, and low cost at 43 per cent.

The respondents scored banks and then credit card companies most highly when it comes to the types of organisation they felt would play significant roles in the mobile payments industry.

Gary Matuszak, global chair of KPMG’s Technology, Communication and Entertainment practice, says respondents may be underestimating the speed of adoption of mobile payments.

‘We believe that exploding smartphone growth and myriad opportunities will grow mobile payments at a much faster rate than our respondents anticipate,’ he says. ‘A wide variety of payments is ready for adoption, as several key players already provide or are rolling out mobile payments, and interest among consumers in utilising mobile payments is growing, in line with the industry’s readiness to deploy them.’

Matuszak adds that while there is consensus about the significant value of this opportunity among executives across geographies and industries, the type and size of opportunity varies between developed and developing countries depending on depth and reach of the financial infrastructure in place.

‘We believe that those firms willing to engage in cross-industry partnerships are more likely to succeed and dominate the market due to the complex set of business relationships required to deliver mobile payments to a mass market.’