All the excitement around new mobile payment technology has not fed through to consumers yet, according to a survey in the US by Consumer Reports National Research Center. It found only five percent of respondents had used their mobile phone to pay for day-to-day purchases in the previous month.  About ten percent of respondents had used other fairly new forms of payments, including billing to home or a mobile account, said the survey by the influential consumer group.

In addition to the level of consumer interest, Consumer Reports’ research also looked at the costs for new payment methods. Most are tied to debit and credit cards and so carry the same costs for users, it says. “Paying by mobile phone won’t save them money.”  For merchants the transaction fees are the same as for plastic too. Google Wallet’s transaction fees for merchants are also the same as those for plastic payments. This is expected to be the case with Visa’s digital wallet too. But mobile-only services Square and PayPal Mobile will charge merchants more than the average major bank fee at 2.75 percent and 2.9 percent of the transaction amount, respectively.

The report also looks at the varying levels of consumer protection on offer.  “As these new forms of payment grow more popular, consumers must be careful to understand the costs, and disparities in protections associated with the promise of new convenience,” said Jeff Blyskal, senior editor with Consumer Reports.  The underlying method of payment will determine the rights for the mobile user.  Mobile phone and digital wallet services linked to a credit card offer the most protection. In the case of billing to a mobile account, the consumers’ rights are “unclear”, says the report. Protection depends on the individual contracts, and they vary widely between mobile operators.