Influence of Demographic Factors on Security and Privacy Concerns in Mobile Payments

Mobile payment systems are rapidly surpassing traditional payment options due to their ease of use and efficiency. Their convenience, however, raises the question – how secure are these systems? There is a great deal of insecurity and risk for consumers as mobile payments involve a lot of financial information. Past research indicates that when involved in online activities and e-payments, consumers are specifically concerned about privacy and security. This study aims to understand influence of demographic variables on security and privacy concerns of consumers by conducting a survey of 1087 respondents in 4 major cities of the state of Gujarat, India. The results indicate that demographic variables age, occupation, annual income and city have significant relationship with security and privacy concerns of consumers towards mobile payments. The findings of this study can benefit mobile service providers, system developers and m-payment vendors to have an actionable segmentation of different target groups based on demographic variables. Practitioners can formulate relevant strategies to address security and privacy concerns which will ultimately facilitate adoption of mobile payment systems.