Covid-19 and mobile payment in Belgium: Closing the digital divide or just for the young, social, and impulsive?

Experts and industry reports agree that the COVID-19 crisis spurred the adoption of new retail technologies, like mobile payment. However, empirical academic evidence that compares their adoption and usage before, during, and after the crisis remains scarce. So far, academic mobile payment research has focussed almost entirely on the different building blocks of technological acceptance models, like perceived usefulness and ease of use, and their role in explaining intention to use. We need to learn more about the profile of the actual user. In this Belgian study, we investigate the evolution in mobile adoption based on survey data from 2019 to 2020 (2019: N = 897; 2020: N = 895). We examine differences in the profile of mobile payers in terms of their socio-demographics, retail, and social media behaviours. The pandemic triggered a clear uplift in mobile payment users between 2019 to 2020. Nonetheless, striking differences in socio-demographic profile and retail patronage remain. Our data shows that there is still inequality in adoption, related to age and social grade. We also observe a clear association between general impulse buying tendency and mobile payment. The link between internet/online shopping and mobile payment is firmly established. Finally, mobile adoption is related to the use of Instagram and Facebook. Consequences for retailers, researchers and public officers are further discussed.