Mobile Payments: What's In It for Consumers?

Fumiko Hayashi, a senior economist with the Kansas City Fed, has published an article entitled "Mobile Payments: What's In It for Consumers?"

"The main demand-side barrier has been the uncertain value of mobile payments to U.S. consumers. In some other countries, there have been obvious advantages to consumers of using mobile payments. Mobile payments were adopted rapidly in Japan as a convenient way of paying for mass transit. In some African countries, mobile payments gained traction because consumers lacked access to other noncash forms of payment such as checks or credit cards. Neither factor is as important in this country, raising the question of how U.S. consumers would benefit from mobile payments."

A full copy of the article is available (PDF) on the bank’s website at www.KansasCityFed.org.