Traditional providers still most trusted brands in mobile payments

Visa, MasterCard and American Express some distance ahead of Apple, Google and Facebook for US consumers.

A new survey conducted in the US by Ogilvy & Mather appears to show that traditional payment companies are in pole position when it comes to winning the trust of consumers for mobile payments.

500 people were asked which brands they trusted for mobile payments. 39.6% said Visa, 35.9% said MasterCard and 35.8% said American Express, with PayPal just behind on 34.3%.

What about the key mobile platform owners though? Apple scored 22.9%, Microsoft 22.3% and Google 19.5%, with Motorola on 17%. Meanwhile Facebook, which is thought to have ambitions to bring its Facebook Credits system to mobile devices, scored a mere 12.1%.

Ogilvy & Mather's Martin Lange tells Advertising Age that the key takeaway from the survey is that mobile companies would do well to partner with the established financial companies. "If you can partner with Visa, MasterCard, AmEx or a large bank, use that brand to elevate your service."