Suhas Dharwad

A Comparative Study of Mobile Wallet Adoption in India and Italy

Course: Cognitive Ergonomics

Program: MSC in Human-Computer Interaction, University of Trento

Duration: 5 months

Introduction

Mobile wallets like Google Pay, Apple Pay, and PayPal have changed how people handle daily payments. With a quick tap or QR scan, buying groceries, booking tickets, or splitting bills happens in seconds without needing physical cards or cash. Beyond speed, these platforms automatically save transaction histories, making spending easier to track. However, adoption rates vary wildly depending on local banking setups, government regulations, trust, and cultural habits. To understand why these differences exist, this study compares two distinct payment environments: India, where mobile payments have grown rapidly, and Italy, where cash and card transactions remain heavily ingrained. The goal was to look closely at the usability, cognitive load, trust, and cultural factors shaping how people pay in both countries.

Research

I conducted a mixed-methods study with 59 participants, including 33 in Italy and 26 in India, using an online questionnaire distributed via social channels. The survey gathered demographics and evaluated payment habits across several core areas, measuring usability through the System Usability Scale (SUS), cognitive load through a short NASA Task Load Index (TLX), perceived trust and security, cultural orientation, and open-ended reflections on switching motivators. Most respondents were between 18 and 34 years old, and over 88% held an undergraduate or postgraduate degree.

Results

The data showed a clear divide in adoption rates and daily payment choices between the two countries. Mobile wallets served as the primary payment method for 74.58% of the total sample, but usage was much higher in India at 84.62% compared to 66.67% in Italy. Conversely, 33.33% of Italian participants relied on debit or credit cards as their main choice, while only 7.69% of Indian participants did so. Italian respondents rated their primary payment options higher in terms of system usability, averaging a SUS score of 91.59 compared to India's 80.38. Subjective workload and cultural factors also highlighted distinct regional challenges. Indian participants reported significantly higher Mental Demand when paying, driven by app navigation and different merchant setups, whereas Italian participants experienced higher Temporal Demand, mostly tied to delays during card terminal processing or cash exchanges. In India, a strong negative correlation appeared between cultural traditionalism and perceived usability, showing that users with traditional mindsets struggled more with mobile payment interfaces. Finally, open-ended responses pointed out that while Indian users adopted mobile wallets due to peer influence and ubiquitous QR codes, Italian users held back due to banking skepticism, data privacy worries, and a reliance on informal cash.

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