A survey of US consumers by Harris Interactive for mobile payments specialists Billing Revolution has found that only 45% think it’s at least ‘somewhat safe’ to make a purchase using their mobile phone.

Assuming it was safe to make purchases through cell phones, however, 46% of mobile phone owners said they would be willing to make purchases this way:

• Of those who would be willing to make purchases through their cellphone, 75% would be willing to buy entertainment items, such as movie/event tickets, music, mobile video or TV content and games.
• 68% would also purchase food/drink items such as pizza, fast food and coffee, and more than half (55%) would be willing to purchase hotel rooms and travel tickets this way.
• Men who own a mobile phone are more likely than their female counterparts to think it is safe to make purchases through their cell phones (50% of men think it’s at least somewhat safe, versus 39% of women).
• Younger phone-owning adults are also more likely than older counterparts to think it’s at least somewhat safe to make purchases (59% of those ages 18-34 versus 34% of those ages 55+)

“There’s clearly a large US population of consumers open to the idea of making purchases via their cell phones,” says Andy Kleitsch, CEO at Billing Revolution. “With consumers getting more comfortable navigating the web from mobile phones, mobile commerce is poised for explosive growth, and consumers are very much leading the charge in this direction.”

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