The only problem now is that consumers are not too convinced about conducting online transactions with mobile devices. Their No. 1 grouse is about security, says a global study undertaken by Unisys Corp, an information technology services and solutions company. Unisys surveyed 13,296 consumers in 14 countries.

Service providers, retailers and financial institutions are unable to persuade their customers to think otherwise, despite the many advances in telecommunications and security technologies.

The proportion that currently uses a mobile phone or personal organiser to pay bills, bank or shop online remains very low even in most advanced countries. Only one per cent of the British and Spanish samples use a mobile phone or personal organiser for financial transactions.

The highest number reported for using their mobile devices for financial transactions are in Germany (21 per cent), the United States (16 per cent) and Hong Kong (14 per cent). Malaysia’s financial transaction for mobile devices is rated at nine per cent.

The number that will consider using the mobile phones for financial transactions was also found to be low in most countries (11 to 13 per cent) with an exception in Malaysia and Singapore. About 26 per cent of Malaysians and 19 per cent of Singaporeans will consider using a mobile phone or personal organiser to pay bills, bank or shop online. The figure was the lowest in France with only three per cent.

Overall, the study said that there is widespread apprehension about the security of mobile devices. The highest number of people not having faith in the device for financial transactions were in Brazil and Italy. A different scenario however, was found in Malaysia and New Zealand, where more people trusted their mobile devices to provide a secure transaction. Malaysia, at 49 per cent had the highest number of people trusting the mobile phone for secure transactions.