October 17, 2011 - Consumer security concerns surrounding the 'mobile wallet' are dominated by phone hacking, a new survey has revealed. A study by Intersperience showed that 17 per cent of consumers want to use their phone as a 'wallet'- nearly half of the participants in the research said that the lack of security software was their chief concern. Almost a quarter of respondents said they fear that their mobile device is more likely to be stolen than their wallet.

Paul Hudson, chief executive officer (CEO) of Intersperience said: "There is no doubt that the phone hacking scandals have unnerved consumers. We also detected a marked rise in security concerns when people use devices with mobile Internet access compared to fixed access via PCs. "These beliefs will impact the pace at which UK consumers adopt mobile payment systems."Further findings from the report showed that only eight per cent of adult consumers currently use their mobiles to make payments. This figure is expected to increase to 21 per cent in the future, the study showed.

Meanwhile, research from Barclays Corporate shows that the amount of purchases consumers make on their mobile phones is expected to rise. Figures from the report revealed that the level of spending on mobile devices is expected to increase from the £1.3 billion now seen to £19.3 billion by 2021. In the next five years the m-commerce market is expected to rise by 55 per cent.