Australia reaches an IoT tipping point

27th September 2017 – Sydney — New research from Worldpay reveals that the Internet of Things (IoT) has reached a tipping point, as the number of adopters overtakes laggards for the first time. According to the research of 2,006 Australian consumers, 40% now feel comfortable with a smart device, such as a fridge or virtual assistant, purchasing items on their behalf, while 39% are hanging back. These figures suggest that the country is poised for the IoT to take off, as consumer perceptions catch up with technology innovation.

However, in the survey, privacy remains a top concern for the majority with 71% worried that businesses would share their personal data. The same proportion fears the prospect of devices being hacked by fraudsters, and one quarter (25%) of those surveyed cannot see the benefits of the convenience afforded by automated shopping at all. This means that although the country ranks highly for its preparedness for the IoT¹ , there is still some way to go before connected devices in the home become ubiquitous.

Nick Telford-Reed, Director of Technology Innovation at Worldpay said: “No matter if done by a human or machine, it is vital for consumers to remain in control when they’re delegating payment tasks. Our research has found that there should always be a conscious ‘act of consent’; be that via a device notification, button press or a pre-set rule like a spending limit, being agreed in advance.

The beauty of technology advancements means that there are many opportunities for virtual assistants and connected devices to make consumers lives easier. If machines can offer consumers a ‘concierge’ style service that reduces day-to-day life admin and menial tasks then there is no reason why they won’t want to delegate some of their shopping responsibilities – after all, we would all appreciate an extra bit of time to ourselves. In the end, consumers need confidence that machines can be trusted to make the right decisions and keep their owners informed and in control.”

To help businesses overcome the perceived security barrier, Worldpay is trialing an open source software development kit (SDK) to facilitate payments in the IoT. Worldpay Within is an embeddable payments agent that allows smart devices to make and take payments as quickly and effectively as a physical shopping environment. With the number of connected devices estimated to reach 20 billion by the end of this year² , it is increasingly important for these devices to communicate effectively and securely with each other, including making payments.

About the data
The research was conducted by research house Opinium in June 2017 and interviewed 20,000 consumers who have heard about the Internet of Things in Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, The Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, United States of America and United Kingdom. The full Connected Consumer report is available upon request. In Australia, 2,006 consumers were surveyed.

About Worldpay
Worldpay is a leading payments company with global reach. We provide an extensive range of technology-led payment products and services to around 400,000 customers, enabling their businesses to grow and prosper. We manage the increasing complexity of the payments landscape for our customers, allowing them to accept the widest range of payment types around the world. Using our network and technology, we are able to process payments from geographies covering 99% of global GDP, across 146 countries and 126 currencies. We help our customers to accept more than 300 different payment types. For more information, visit http://www.worldpay.com/global

For more information, please contact:

Global eCom
Emily Lahey, PR Director
+44 (0) 7584339633
emily.lahey@worldpay.com

Golin
Nitesh Khetani
+44 (0) 207 067 0128
worldpayecommteam@golin.com

¹IDC: G20 Nations and the IoT: A Comparative Assessment
²Statista: IoT – Number of connected devices worldwide 2015-2025