Which brands would you trust with your mobile wallet
Almost every day there are announcements about new mobile payment and mobile wallet launches from banks, card companies, mobile companies, physical retailers and online retailers. Here in the UK, the latest was the announcement by the Post Office that they are installing contactless payment terminals across their branch network. In the same week, PayPal UK announced the launch of their “Pay in Store” app enabling customers to buy ladies fashion in four UK retail chains using their Paypal account.
Post office customers with Visa or Mastercard accounts will be able to pay using contactless cards or NFC enabled smartphones. In the future the Post Office could develop their own mobile wallet where they compete against the likes of Visa V.me or Mastercard Paypass mobile wallets.
When Post office customers experience a contactless payment problem I assume in the first instance they will query it with Post Office sales staff. If not resolved they will contact Visa or Mastercard just like they do today if they have a problem paying with a debit or credit card.
As sales and customer service increasingly moves online and mobile wallets are offered as a means of payment it is essential that customer management is clearly defined so we as customers know what to do when there is a payment problem. The emergence of a problem could arise anytime in the sales process from the initial purchase to when goods are received or when goods are returned. I recently attended the London Wine trade fair where the CEO of Direct Wines (Laithwaites etc) Simon McMurtie, commented that in the UK over 50% of their sales are online with 42% of web orders via the mobile. Clearly if I have a payment or a billing problem I contact Laithwaites in the first instance, then my debit or credit card company.
With banks, traditional card payment companies, online merchants, physical merchants and mobile companies all developing their versions of mobile wallets it would be interesting to hear which companies you would most trust with your money and which have the customer service capabilities and resources in place to solve issues to your satisfaction.
On a personal level my children recently joined T-Mobile and the first bill and service experience was dreadful. I wouldn’t therefotre consider them as a company to manage my kids mobile wallet because of this customer service experience. T-Mobile’s competitor, O2 though could be an option given their industry renowned customer service operation. But would I trust a mobile operator with my mobile wallet versus the likes of Amex, Visa, First Direct?
Next week I’ll review some UK mobile payment and banking research related to brand trust. Thank you for reading and I look forward to your thoughts.
