SURVEY: 45% would switch devices to get Apple Pay and 30% would switch banks to access mobile payments

Almost half (45%) of US smartphone owners with non-iOS devices would be willing to switch to an iOS device in order to gain access to Apple Pay, a study from market research firm Lab42 has revealed.

Further findings show that 54% of the 500 respondents would consider using Apple Pay, while the remaining 46% were split evenly between those who would not consider using it (23%) and those who are still unsure about the service (23%).

Respondents also cited the top four benefits of Apple Pay as its security, the fact that they don’t have to worry about losing their credit or debit cards or carrying their physical cards in their wallets, and the simplicity of setting up the service.

“Mobile payments have been around for years but many consumers are not yet familiar with them,” says Jonathan Pirc, founder of Lab42. “With the launch of Apple Pay, we see that conversation opening up in a way we haven’t seen before.”

With regard to mobile payments in general, 30% of those surveyed said they would be willing to switch banks in order to gain access to mobile payments. However, 42% said they are worried about the inability to make a payment if their smartphone battery dies, 60% are concerned about what will happen if their credit card information gets stolen when making a mobile payment and 55% are worried about their smartphone getting stolen.

The survey also found that 63% of respondents had heard of Google Wallet and, among that group, 32% had used it. The top three places consumers would like to use mobile payments include grocery stores, retail stores and gas stations and 35% of respondents anticipate they will start using mobile payments within the next six months.