Much like the story of the emperor’s new clothes, mobile payments may be a case where the young see one thing and their elders another.
College students who won the top slot in a contest sponsored by the National Retail Federation Foundation and American Express Co. have determined that in a retail environment, mobile payments is not ready for prime time.
“Basically, the students did the research, and they found it is too early in the adoption process for the industry,” said Jerry O’Brien, executive director at the Kohl Center for Retailing Excellence at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and leader of the winning student team. The students also concluded that mobile payments would be critical in the coming years, but that retailers should wait until consumer technology bears the burden of the infrastructure and the cost, not the retailer.
“The students believe the technology for the smartphone will very soon enable them to [make payments] without a big input of cash from the retailer” to implement the new technology, O’Brien added.
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