China UnionPay: 2018 Mobile Payment Security Survey and Analysis Report

China UnionPay released the "2018 Mobile Internet Payment Security Survey Report". At the turn of the year, China UnionPay will explore with you the new trends, changes and risks that consumers have seen in the use of mobile payments in the past year, and how to protect their wallets.

According to the analysis of risk and security experts from China UnionPay, the mobile payment field showed the following characteristics in 2018: First, with the implementation of the national inclusive finance and tax and fee reduction policies, the public's disposable income increased significantly, driving a significant increase in mobile payment consumption; second, the construction of mobile payment scenarios continued to deepen, and convenient mobile payment products effectively improved people's payment experience in various scenarios; third, the application of financial technology was further expanded, helping to improve payment convenience and security; fourth, public safety knowledge was popularized, and online fraud continued to decline; fifth, mobile payment safety habits deserve widespread attention.

Per capita disposable income grows and the amount of mobile payments continues to increase

Since the beginning of this year, the country has implemented a series of inclusive finance and tax and fee reduction policies, which effectively stimulated the public's consumption purchasing power and promoted the steady growth of the mobile economy. Survey data show that the per capita monthly disposable income of people in industries such as entrepreneurship, IT, and real estate ranks in the top three. In terms of mobile payment consumption, the amount of mobile payment consumption by entrepreneurs leads other industry groups, exceeding 3,000 yuan/month, and the average monthly mobile payment consumption of full-time housewives reaches 2,863 yuan, ranking third; in terms of the frequency of mobile payment use, the IT industry group has the highest frequency of use; in terms of the proportion of mobile payment consumption, the student group's mobile consumption expenditure accounts for more than 40% of the monthly disposable income, and mobile payment has become the main payment tool for this group.

Mobile payment is frequently used in public transportation, medical services, financial management and other scenarios

Mobile payment accounts for an increasing proportion in the field of public transportation. Nearly 30% of consumers use it more than 5 times a day. Entrepreneurs, advertising/media, housewives and retired elderly people have become the main consumer groups. In the field of medical services, housewives, soldiers and retired elderly people are the high-frequency users of mobile payment. In addition, as an important part of inclusive finance, the performance of mobile payment in the field of financial management is also remarkable. Data shows that retired elderly people, soldiers and housewives are more enthusiastic about buying financial products than other professional groups, and have a stronger desire to invest in cash assets to maintain and increase their value. From a regional perspective, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai have fully entered the era of mobile payment consumption. Anhui, Shandong, Gansu and other places have a high proportion of mobile payment consumption in physical stores. From the perspective of payment methods, QR code is still the most popular mobile payment method in the market, and mobile flash payment is becoming more and more popular among young high-income people.

Fingerprint recognition is gaining popularity as financial technology applications expand

Fintech represented by biometric technology is constantly being applied to the mobile payment industry, making verification accurate and efficient, and payment convenient and safe. The survey shows that biometric payment methods such as fingerprint payment are recognized by more than half of consumers, an increase of 6 percentage points over last year. Among men under 35 years old, fingerprint recognition has become the most used verification method.

The incidence of online fraud in the mobile payment field has dropped significantly, and the amount of losses has increased

With the popularization of financial safety consumption knowledge and the continuous deepening of the nationwide crackdown on telecommunications and Internet fraud activities, the respondents' risk prevention awareness has increased. Survey data shows that the probability of consumers encountering traditional Internet fraud continues to decline. Compared with last year, the incidence of two types of fraud, social accounts (QQ, WeChat, etc.) impersonating relatives and friends to defraud and using credit card cash withdrawal as an excuse to obtain verification codes and other payment information, has dropped significantly, but the average amount of Internet fraud losses has increased.

Mobile payment safety habits still need to be strengthened and cultivated. Do not scan QR codes from unknown sources.

Consumers' awareness of mobile payment information security has been further improved, and the proportion of low-risk mobile payment consumers has increased by 10% compared with last year. This year's high-risk mobile payment behaviors are mainly manifested in: not unbinding bank cards when changing to new phones, not deleting retained sensitive information (21%), directly deleting apps with payment functions without unbinding bank cards (20%), and trying to scan QR codes with discounts and promotions (20%). At the same time, nearly 70% of respondents this year said they had taken the initiative to buy insurance related to bank card account theft, an increase of about 27 percentage points from last year. Consumers with advanced age and high education have a stronger willingness to buy insurance against theft. In terms of actual losses, respondents who bought insurance suffered significantly less loss than consumers who did not buy insurance.

This survey collected nearly 100,000 valid questionnaires, and about 70% of the respondents were between 20 and 40 years old. The samples covered 34 provinces (municipalities) across the country, including Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Beijing, Shandong, Jiangsu, Fujian, etc., highly restored the current situation of mobile payment users, and strived to accurately and truly reflect the payment behavior and security awareness of Chinese mobile payment users, and provide trend guidance in the field of payment security for cardholders and related industry parties.