Exploring Consumer Adoption of NFC Mobile Payments in South Africa

The incredible proliferation of mobile telephone use globally has created new avenues to market, sell and deliver services to consumers across socioeconomic classes. An area that has received a lot of attention is mobile payment services because of technological advancements that have made it possible for consumers to pay for both digital and physical goods using mobile devices. A new mobile payment technology that has been dubbed transformational is Near Field Communication (NFC). NFC is a wireless communication technology that enables mobile devices to automatically exchange data when two devices are physically brought together. International trials have proved that NFC based mobile payments are both efficient and convenient in the eye of the consumer. However, none of these trials have been carried out on the African continent and especially its biggest economy, South Africa. In this research the author’s goal was to identify the relevant NFC enabled mobile payment adoption determinants for South African consumers.