Mobile payments: a scoping study of the literature and issues for future research

Abstract

Despite its huge potential, the use of mobile technology for carrying out payment transactions and replicating monetary features, has only taken off in a limited number of countries. The fact that mobile payment services are not being provided on a worldwide scale, suggests that the reasons for the successful cases are not yet fully understood, and as a result, cannot be easily replicated. This paper seeks to fill this knowledge gap by providing a comprehensive scoping study, which seeks to map out the literature published between 2001 and 2011. An investigation has been carried out of a total of 94 peer-reviewed papers, with the aim of providing a comprehensive picture of the knowledge, production and dissemination about mobile payments. Furthermore, this study includes a detailed analysis of 12 primary case studies on existing mobile payment schemes, as well as a consultation exercise with stakeholders. The main contribution of this study is to provide a clear account of the knowledge that exists on mobile payments. As a result, it has been possible to detect serious gaps in this knowledge base (in geographical, methodological and conceptual areas) and show how future research can make improvements in the field.