The most popular type of mobile payment? Bill payment.

• Position: MARKETING NEWS - Brief article

DESPITE ALL THE MEDIA HYPE ABOUT THE BRIGHT FUTURE of mobile point of service (POS) payments and mobile person-to-person (P2P) payments, the most widely used form of mobile payments today is mobile bill payment, according to the New York-based financial services research firm Novarica.

In a recent survey of more than 1,700 consumers, the company reported that more than 27 percent of consumers with mobile capability used their devices to pay bills. The chief appeal of mobile bill pay is the ability to make last-minute payments. In contrast, only about 14 percent used their mobile phone to make purchases at a store, utilizing POS capabilities provided by the retailer mobile POS payment, and 7 percent, P2P.

Another surprise is that consumers under age 30 are less likely to make a mobile PCS payment than consumers between the ages of 30 and 39. "Many young consumers do not have the ability to make mobile payments at POS because they don't have checking accounts or credit cards," according to the survey results entitled "Bank Shopper Snapshot Survey." "Young consumers are also more likely to be...