Mobile Wallet Adoption and Consumer Acceptance

Mobile wallets have emerged as a transformative force in digital finance, enabling consumers to store payment credentials, loyalty cards and identification securely on smartphones. Adoption patterns reflect a complex interplay of technological, social and economic factors. Ease of use and perceived usefulness remain core determinants, as articulated by established acceptance models, while trust in security protocols and data privacy underpins consumer confidence. Social influence and facilitating conditions—such as smartphone penetration, network connectivity and merchant acceptance—further shape uptake across diverse markets. In many emerging economies, mobile wallets advance financial inclusion by lowering barriers to entry for unbanked populations, whereas in mature markets they offer convenience and integration with broader digital ecosystems. Recent innovations such as gamification have been introduced to sustain engagement, while health-related imperatives during pandemic outbreaks accelerated contactless payment adoption. Yet challenges persist: interoperability across platforms, regulatory harmonisation and the mitigation of fraud and cybersecurity risks demand ongoing attention. Cross-disciplinary research continues to refine theoretical models, combining traditional frameworks with novel constructs such as enjoyment, quality of service and confirmation of expectations to explain both initial adoption and continued usage. The global reach of mobile wallets positions them as pivotal enablers of cashless economies, with implications for consumer behaviour, merchant strategies and public policy.

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Mobile Wallet Adoption and Consumer Acceptance publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in mobile wallet adoption and consumer acceptance across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Technology Acceptance Model (TAM): A theoretical framework positing that perceived usefulness and ease of use determine user attitude and behavioural intention towards new technology.

Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT): An extension of TAM incorporating social influence, facilitating conditions and individual characteristics to predict technology adoption.

Perceived usefulness: The degree to which a consumer believes that using a system enhances their performance or convenience.

Perceived ease of use: The extent to which a consumer expects a system to be free of effort and straightforward to operate.

Gamification: The application of game design elements in non-game contexts to increase user engagement and motivation.

Perceived service quality: A user’s overall assessment of the reliability, responsiveness and support provided by a digital payment service.

Perceived trust: The belief that a mobile wallet system is secure, dependable and will safeguard personal and financial information.

References

1. Promoting fintech: driving developing country consumers’ mobile wallet use through gamification and trust. International Journal of Bank Marketing (2024).
2. Cashless Transactions: A Study on Intention and Adoption of e-Wallets. Sustainability (2021).
3. Moderating Role of Perceived Trust and Perceived Service Quality on Consumers’ Use Behavior of Alipay e‐wallet System: The Perspectives of Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behavior. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies (2023).
4. Explaining an Adoption and Continuance Intention to Use Contactless Payment Technologies: During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Emerging Science Journal (2021).