Earlier this year, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Board”) released a report on its third annual Survey of Consumers’ Use of Mobile Financial Services (the “2013 Survey”). The 2013 Survey are part of the Board’s ongoing effort to monitor developments in mobile financial services. While the 2013 Survey covered both mobile banking and mobile payments, the focus of this alert is on the Board’s findings related to mobile payments.

2013 Survey Results Regarding Mobile Payments -

Consistent with the Board’s surveys in previous years, the 2013 Survey defined mobile payments as “purchases, bill payments, charitable donations, payments to another person, or any other payments made using a mobile phone . . . either by accessing a web page through the web browser on your mobile device, by sending a text message (SMS), or by using a downloadable app on your mobile device [whether the] amount of the payment may be applied to your phone bill (for example, Red Cross text message donation), charged to your credit card, deducted from a prepaid account, or withdrawn directly from your bank account.”