Report: Hispanic Demographic Important to Mobile Payments, Banking (May 28, 2014)
Mobile app providers might be overlooking a key demographic as they try to develop the right mix of form and function that will help their apps gain traction with a large population of consumers. “Hispanic consumers have adopted and embraced mobile technology at an equivalent or greater extent than non-Hispanics across a wide variety of activities,” according to the report, “Mi Móvil: Hispanic Consumers Embrace Mobile Technology,” which is part of PwC’s Consumer Intelligence Series.
Hispanic consumers are turning to their mobile devices for more reasons and more often than non-Hispanics. For example, 65 percent of Hispanics are checking their bank balances, performing banking transactions or paying bills at least weekly, compared with 53 percent of non-Hispanics.
Nearly one-fourth of Hispanic respondents reported paying for goods or services at least once a week using a payment card stored on the mobile phones, compared with 13 percent for non-Hispanics. Also, more Hispanics (25 percent) have downloaded electronic coupons to their phones at least once a week to be scanned later at the store’s register, while 17 percent of non-Hispanics reported doing so.
However, one-third of Hispanic consumers and one-fourth of non-Hispanic consumers balk at sharing any personal information, regardless of possible benefits. Focus groups suggest there is a cultural reticence among Hispanics to reveal too much personal information, according to the report. With privacy a significant concern, the study stresses the importance of marketers gaining trust with consumers by providing advance disclosure of how personal information will be used and by providing consumers with a benefit or discount in return.
Research results were gleaned from a nationwide survey this spring among 500 Hispanics and 500 non-Hispanics, ranging in age from 18 to 65, and two Hispanic and two non-Hispanic focus groups with participants ranging in age from 25 to 59 that were held in New York City and Dallas.
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