A consumer market study on the functioning of m-payment for consumers in the European Union : executive summary

The current study provides novel insights into the state-of-play of the m-payment market (i.e. WHO is doing WHAT and HOW) and identifies potential infringements of the EU consumer laws. The study focuses on five common types of m-payment services: SMS payments, Near Field Communications (NFC), payments by scanning QR codes with a mobile device, payments using mobile applications, and payments via mobile devices' web browser. The study is divided into an analysis of the current EU m-payment market and an analysis of consumers' experiences in this market. The market analysis draws on insights from a review of the existing literature and studies and interviews with stakeholders. The analysis of consumer experiences is based on the insights from a consumer survey with 10,007 responses in ten EU Member States and two mystery shopping exercises. The first mystery shopping focused on consumer experiences when purchasing goods and services via m-payment, while the second mystery shopping studied the consumer experience when acquiring m-payment services. Based on the results of this study, policy recommendations are drawn.