Senator Durbin’s amendment (SA 3989) to the proposed Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 would give the Federal Reserve Board the authority to establish rules and regulations related to the interchange fees that issuers and payment card networks could charge with respect to debit card transactions.  It would also reduce payment card networks’ oversight of merchants’ card acceptance policies, allowing merchants to offer discounts for non-card purchases, and to set minimum/maximum transaction values for card purchases.

The new study from Lightspeed Research, titled “U.S. Consumer Card Spending: The Potential Impact of the Durbin Amendment,” evaluates the possible ways in which Senator Durbin’s amendment could change consumers’ use of card-based payment products.  Key findings from the study include:

• More than two-thirds of U.S. consumers oppose the idea of not being able to use a debit or credit card for small-dollar purchases and 53% indicate that they would not shop as often at stores that imposed these limitations.
• The use of debit cards for transactions under $20 has steadily increased during the past few years, and now accounts for 56% of all debit transactions.
• For purchases in the sub-$10 range, fully one-third of all consumers prefer using plastic to cash.
• 88% of consumers oppose the idea of being charged a higher price for using credit or debit for a purchase, while only 44% are in favor of receiving a discount for using cash.

About This Research

Between May 24 and June 1, 2010, Lightspeed Research surveyed a nationally representative sample of 4,898 U.S. consumers.  The survey included questions about consumers’ current usage of payment products (cash, checks, debit cards, and credit cards), as well as a series of scenario-based questions related to the changes that could come about due to Senator Durbin’s amendment (e.g., minimum purchases for card products, incentives for using non-card products for payment, etc.).  Lightspeed Research also incorporated analysis of transactional data from its Behavioral Tracking Panel, through which panelists agree to allow Lightspeed Research to passively track their usage of credit and debit.

About Lightspeed Research

Lightspeed Research delivers valuable data to help clients make informed business decisions.  With proprietary online panels throughout the world, our verified, engaged, and deeply profiled survey respondents can support research studies that vary in scope and complexity.  Lightspeed Research’s expert Client Operations Team offers data collection services including survey design, sample management, programming, and reporting.  The company has offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific.  Lightspeed Research is part of Kantar, the information insight and consultancy division of WPP.  For more information, please visit www.lightspeedresearch.com.

About The Financial Services Group at Lightspeed Research

The Financial Services Group at Lightspeed Research provides its clients with comprehensive and accurate perspectives on consumers’ shifting usage of payment products by integrating passively collected credit and debit transactional data, attitudinal insights and industry expertise.  The Financial Services Group also produces a series of competitive intelligence studies that provide timely visibility into the types of communications that credit card issuers and retail banks are sending to their customers.

Press Inquiries

David Gordon
SVP, Business DevelopmentLightspeed Research, Inc.
Phone: +1 (617) 431-5359
Email: dgordon@lightspeedresearch.com

Massive potential for streaming online

This year’s football World Cup will be the first where mass market online video streaming is a reality across the globe. Typically online rights are bundled with the TV deal as an ‘add on’, but the Global Web Index demonstrates that these rights are seriously undervalued, with FIFA potentially missing out on millions in revenue. The research shows there is already massive take-up of sports highlights and full length programming online (Chart 1). The Chinese lead the way where thanks to video platforms such as Youku and Tudou that carry full length programming as standard, 35% had watched full length programmers online in the last month and 27% had watched sports highlights. Other countries are not far behind.

Won’t pay, will pay

More crucially there is huge, untapped potential for monetizing streamed sport content. When asked what method of accessing live sports streams, there are very interesting differences in behaviour by country (Chart 2). Sports fans in India, South Korea, China, Mexico and Italy are most likely to choose to pay for their fix. Indians are most likely to pay to enjoy streamed sports without advertising (37%) followed by South Koreans (32%). In direct comparison, those living in the US and European markets in the study – prefer free access, with ads. However there is still a very large interest in paying, and one that if monetized could be far more lucrative than the advertising revenue. It is a similar picture for watching clips of sporting highlights.

“This research shows that online football rights for the 2010 World Cup are massively undervalued” said Tom Smith Director of Global Web Index. “There is proven appetite for streaming all sports online and more importantly, consumers are increasingly paying for it. There’s a whole new generation of younger consumers, as well as specific markets like China and South Korea where paying for sports online is quickly becoming the norm. This research shows that the days when online sports rights are thrown in as a sweetener with the TV rights may be about to be shown the red card. “

Ends

For press enquiries please contact:

Geraldine Gitel, PR Consultant – Greenfields Communications
ggitel@greenfieldscommunications.com Tel: + 44 (0) 07917 855380

Ralph Risk, Marketing Director Europe – Lightspeed Research
Tel office +44 (0)20 7896 1950 mobile +44 (0)787 650 7689 rrisk@lightspeedresearch.com

About Global Web Index

Trendstream created the Global Web Index to derive insights on the global impact of web usage and social web involvement. GWI is a collaboration between Trendstream and panel provider Lightspeed Research. The research programme interviews 16,000 web users twice a year in 16 markets to provide a unique perspective on web behaviour and its impact on consumer behaviour, technology involvement, purchasing, content consumption, the effectiveness of marketing communications and the role for brands. It provides detailed insight into how web behaviour and the value of consumer driven communications differs by country, category and different consumer segments. www.globalwebindex.net

About Lightspeed Research

Lightspeed Research delivers valuable data to help clients make informed business decisions.  With proprietary online panels throughout the world, our verified, engaged, and deeply profiled survey respondents can support research studies that vary in scope and complexity.  Lightspeed Research’s expert Client Operations Team offers data collection services including survey design, sample management, programming, and reporting.  The company has offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific.  Lightspeed Research is part of Kantar, the information insight and consultancy division of WPP.  For more information, please visit www.lightspeedresearch.com.

About Trendstream

Trendstream is a research consultancy dedicated to understanding the global impact of technology change. The company produces primary and secondary research to help clients understand the impact of the web, social technologies, mobile and consumer electronics and the resulting implications for consumer behaviour, marketing communications, content and business models. The company also advises clients on social web strategy, business models and monetising content online.

Women take the lead

The large majority of UK respondents (54%) claim that playing games is one of the main reasons they use the internet. Online games are competing head-on with PC games: 28% of users play online games and 24% of respondents play short/casual games on a social network.

The survey shows that at 27%, women are more likely to play online games and social games than their male counterparts (22%). Tom Smith, Managing Director of Trendstream who led the research says “Women are particularly attracted to short, casual games involving an active community like Farmville, Cafe Wars or Pet Society. Women also spend more time on social networks in general. Social games are accessible, free and they don’t take up much time. Plus they are distributed through the network, which is a key factor driving their take up.”

Brits amongst most active social gamers in Europe

If emailing and sending messages to friends remains the main activity conducted on social networks for two thirds of users, playing games is now the sixth most popular activity (46%), ranked higher than watching videos (43%). The UK has the second most active social gamers in Europe at 46% after France (56%).

The new ‘geek’ chic

The research also reveals interesting facts about the most active social games players:

• Women play more than men (50% vs 41%)
• Divorcees play more than single users (63% vs 41%)
• Large families are much more likely to play, 56% of users with three or more children and 50% of users with two children play social games while only 43% of respondents with no children are players
• Half of the most active users, those who spend more than three hours per day online, play social games
• People working in media, marketing and advertising play more than respondents working in IT, internet and software and computer services (57% vs 43%).

Tom Smith concludes “The transformation of the gaming market towards casual social concepts has already changed the way that games are created and distributed. The market is now much more open to anyone who wants to create games. This gives brands a huge opportunity to engage with consumers through casual games much more cost efficiently than through advertising.”

-Ends-

For press enquiries please contact:

Geraldine Gitel, PR Consultant – Greenfields Communications
ggitel@greenfieldscommunications.com Tel: + 44 (0) 07917 855380

Ralph Risk, Marketing Director Europe – Lightspeed Research
Tel office +44 (0)20 7896 1950 mobile +44 (0)787 650 7689 rrisk@lightspeedresearch.com

About Global Web Index

Trendstream created the Global Web Index to derive insights on the global impact of web usage and social web involvement. It is a collaboration between Trendstream and panel provider Lightspeed Research. The research programme interviews 16,000 web users twice a year in 16 markets to provide a unique perspective on web behaviour and its impact on consumer behaviour, technology involvement, purchasing, content consumption, the effectiveness of marketing communications and the role for brands. It provides detailed insight into how web behaviour and the value of consumer driven communications differs by country, category and different consumer segments. www.globalwebindex.net

About Lightspeed Research

Lightspeed Research delivers valuable data to help clients make informed business decisions. With proprietary online panels throughout the world, our verified, engaged, and deeply profiled survey respondents can support research studies that vary in scope and complexity. Lightspeed Research’s expert Client Operations Team offers data collection services including survey design, sample management, programming and reporting.

The company has offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Lightspeed Research is part of Kantar, the information insight and consultancy division of WPP. For more information, please visit www.lightspeedresearch.com

About Trendstream

Trendstream is a research consultancy dedicated to understanding the global impact of technology change. The company produces primary and secondary research to help clients understand the impact of the web, social technologies, mobile and consumer electronics and the resulting implications for consumer behaviour, marketing communications, content and business models. The company also advises clients on social web strategy, business models and monetising content online.

Social Games sind immer beliebter, aber Deutschland hinkt im Europäischen Durchschnitt noch hinterher

Der Hauptanteil der deutschen Befragten (54%) gibt an, daß Spiele spielen der Hauptgrund dafür ist, daß Internet zu nutzen. Online-Spiele konkurrieren dabei mit klassischen Computerspielen: 29% der Nutzer spielen online. Die Umfrage zeigt darüber hinaus, daß Frauen mit 31% eher online spielen als Männer (27%). Nichtsdestotrotz offenbart die Studie auch, daß sich der deutsche Social Games Markt mit nur 10% aktiven Spielern erst noch im Aufbau befindet, besonders im Vergleich zu Großbritannien 24% und Frankreich, wo sich jeweils 24% und 23% der Spieler in sozialen Netzwerken aktiv sind.

Vor allem Frauen sind begeistert von Social Games

Auch wenn Nachrichten an Freunde zu schreiben für die große Mehrheit der Nutzer nach wie vor die Hauptaktivität in sozialen Netzwerken ist, ist das Spielen von kurzen Social Games bereits in den Top 10 der beliebtesten Aktivitäten, vor Videos ansehen und Blogs schreiben. Besonders Frauen mögen diese neue Spieleform und sie spielen mit 41,7% deutlich mehr als Männer (32,6%).

Tom Smith, Managing Director von Trendstream und Leiter der Studie sagt, dass „besonders Frauen kurzen, unkomplizierten Spiele mögen, bei denen es um eine aktive Gemeinschaft geht, zum Beispiel ‚Farmville‘, ‚Cafe Wars‘ oder ‚Pet Society‘. Außerdem verbringen Frauen generell mehr Zeit in sozialen Netzwerken, was auch ein Faktor ist. Social Games sind einfach, kostenlos und nehmen nicht so viel Zeit in Anspruch. Darüber hinaus spielt der soziale Faktor eine große Rolle.“

Welcher Spieler-Typ bist du?

Die Studie zeigt auch einige interessante Fakten über die aktivsten Spieler von Social Games:

• Singles spielen mehr als Verheiratete (63% vs. 41%)
• 39% der Kinderlosen spielen Spiele, während nur 24% der Nutzer mit 2 und 22% der Nutzer mit 3 Kindern spielen
• 49% der aktivsten Nutzer, die täglich mehr als 4 Stunden online sind, spielen Social Games
• Mehr als die Hälfte aller Angestellten in Bildung, Freizeit und Medienindustrie spielen Social Games, im Vergleich zu nur 27% der Angestellten im IT und Internetbereich

Tom Smith stellt zusammenfassend fest, dass „die Transformation des Spielemarktes hin zu einfacheren, sozialen Spielen, die frei verfügbar sind, verändert die Art, wie Spiele produziert und vertrieben werden. Der Markt ist jetzt viel offener für jeden Spieleentwickler. Das ist eine tolle Gelegenheit besonders für Firmen, die diese neue Form der Interaktion als eine kosteneffektive Form der Werbung und Kundenbindung nutzen können.“

-ENDE-

Für Presseanfragen wenden Sie sich bitte an:

Sylvie Magerstädt, PR-Managerin für Deutschland – Greenfields Communications
Email: sylvie@greenfieldscommunications.com, Mobil: +44 (0) 7914 333 905

Olaf Siemen, Account Director – Lightspeed Research Deutschland
Email: osiemen@lightspeedresearch.com, Tel. +49 (0) 40 4117 2333

Über den Global Web Index

Der Global Web Index, unterstützt von Lightspeed Research, ist eine Informations-Plattform für Agenturen, Marktforscher und Online Brands, deren Ziel es ist, globale Internet- Nutzungstrends zu quantifizieren und damit ein besseres und genaueres Verständnis der weltweiten Nutzung von Online-Inhalten zu erreichen.

Zweimal jährlich werden dazu 32.000 Teilnehmer in 16 Ländern befragt. Dabei handelt es sich um aktive Internetnutzer zwischen 16-64 Jahren, die nach demographischen Prinzipien klassifiziert werden. Die Sammlung der Daten erfolgt mit Unterstützung von Lightspeed Research, eines der weltweit führenden Marktforschungsunternehmen.

Über Lightspeed Research

Lightspeed Research ist ein weltweit führender Anbieter interaktiver Forschungslösungen im Bereich der Online-Panel-Forschung spezialisiert. Durch seine qualitativ hochwertigen Access-Panels ermöglicht Lightspeed Research den weltweiten Zugang zu mehreren Millionen Teilnehmern in Europa, Nordamerika und dem asiatisch-pazifischen Raum. Lightspeed Research ist ein Mitglied von Kantar und WPP (LSE: WPP) (NASDAQ:WPPGY), eines der weltweit führenden Unternehmen für Kommunikationsdienste. Für weitere Informationen besuchen Sie bitte www.lightspeedresearch.com

Über Trendstream

Trendstream ist eine Marktforschungs-Beratung, die sich dem Verständnis des weltweiten Einflusses von technologischen Veränderungen widmet. Das Unternehmen produziert primäre und sekundäre Studien, die Klienten helfen, die Wirkungen von Internet, Social Technologies, Mobiltelephonie und Konsumerelektronik zu verstehen sowie die daraus resultierenden Veränderungen in Konsumverhalten, Marketing Kommunikation, Inhalten und Geschäftsmodellen. Das Unternehmen berät außerdem Kunden zu Strategiefragen bezüglich sozialer Netzwerke, Geschäftsmodellen und kommerzielle Verwertung von Online-Inhalten.

Près d’un quart d’internautes français jouent aux jeux sociaux

Une majorité de Français, 58%, affirment que jouer en ligne est une des raisons principales pour lesquelles ils utilisent internet. Les jeux en ligne concurrencent directement les jeux sur PC et sur consoles puisque 31% des internautes interrogés jouent régulièrement aux jeux en ligne et 23% sont férus de jeux sociaux. Les jeux sur PC séduisent quant à eux 30% des Français interrogés et les jeux sur consoles divertissent 27% d’internautes.

La France se place au deuxième rang des pays européens les plus accros aux jeux sociaux, juste derrière le Royaume-Uni qui compte 24% de joueurs. L’Espagne et l’Italie suivent la tendance avec 23% d’adeptes, puis viennent beaucoup plus loin derrière les Pays-Bas (13%) et l’Allemagne (10%).

Les femmes, des joueuses invétérées

Le Global Web Index révèle que plus de la moitié des internautes actifs sur les réseaux sociaux, 56%, jouent aux jeux sociaux. Participer aux jeux sociaux représente ainsi la troisième activité la plus populaire sur les sites communautaires, après le fait d’envoyer des e-mails à ses amis (70%) et de télécharger et partager des photos (60%). Participer aux jeux sociaux est désormais beaucoup plus populaire que regarder une vidéo (50%), rejoindre un groupe (47%), rechercher des contacts (31%) ou encore envoyer des cadeaux virtuels (18%).

Chez les femmes, jouer constitue même la seconde activité la plus prisée sur les sites communautaires. Les femmes jouent plus que les hommes puisque 60% des femmes participent à ces jeux contre 52% d’hommes. Tom Smith, Directeur de Trendstream en charge de cette étude, commente : « Les femmes sont particulièrement attirées par ces jeux courts et ludiques qui ont une forte dimension sociale tels que Farmville, Mafia Wars ou Pet Society. Les femmes passent plus de temps sur les réseaux sociaux, c’est un facteur important. Les jeux sociaux sont gratuits, accessibles et ils ne prennent pas trop de temps. De plus, ils sont distribués sur les réseaux sociaux, ce qui est un facteur déterminant. »

Une nouvelle typologie de joueurs qui bouleverse le marché des jeux vidéo

L’étude révèle d’autres faits intéressants sur les utilisateurs des réseaux sociaux accros aux jeux sociaux :

• Près de deux tiers (64%) des internautes les plus actifs en ligne, ceux qui
  passent plus de 4 heures sur internet par jour, sont des joueurs,
• Les professions traditionnellement plus féminines affichent également les plus
  fortes proportions de joueurs,
• Plus de 2/3 (67%) des utilisateurs issus du secteur de l’enseignement et plus de
  3/4 (77%) des utilisateurs travaillant dans le secteur de la santé jouent,
• En revanche, seuls 17% des Français usagers des réseaux sociaux et qui
  travaillant dans le secteur de l’informatique et des nouvelles technologies jouent,
• Les postes sans ou avec peu de responsabilité sont surreprésentés : 59% des
  utilisateurs occupant ce type de postes participent aux jeux sociaux alors que
  seuls 25% des décideurs d’entreprises expérimentés sont accros à ces jeux,
• Les utilisateurs vivant en concubinage jouent plus que les personnes habitant
  seules (58% vs 49%).

Tom Smith conclut : « L’évolution du marché des jeux vidéo vers des concepts de jeux simples, conviviaux, gratuits et communautaires modifie la façon dont les jeux sont créés et distribués. Le secteur des jeux vidéo est désormais bien plus ouvert à tous ceux qui souhaitent créer des jeux. Les jeux sociaux représentent ainsi une opportunité énorme pour les marques. Elles peuvent utiliser ces vecteurs pour capter de nouvelles cibles et renforcer le dialogue avec les internautes d’une façon plus efficace et rentable qu’avec la publicité. »

- Fin -

Contact

Geraldine Gitel, PR Manager France : ggitel@greenfieldscommunications.com
+44 7917885380

Ralph Risk, Directeur Marketing Europe – Lightspeed Research
Tel office +44 (0)20 7896 1950 mobile +44 (0)787 650 7689 rrisk@lightspeedresearch.com

À propos du Global Web Index

Cette étude menée en partenariat par Trendstream et Lightspeed Research examine les nouveaux usages de l’internet et les médias sociaux. Cette étude sonde deux fois par an 16 000 internautes répartis dans le monde entier afin de comprendre leur comportement en ligne. Les résultats présentés dans ce communiqué proviennent de la dernière vague menée en février 2010. En France, 1000 internautes représentatifs de la population internaute française ont été interrogés. Pour plus d’informations, merci de visiter www.globalwebindex.net

À propos de Lightspeed Research

Avec des panels en ligne dans le monde entier, Lightspeed Research fournit à ses clients des données précieuses pour les aider à prendre des décisions stratégiques avisées. Nos panélistes réactifs, aux profils très détaillés et vérifiés régulièrement, permettent de réaliser des études variées et complexes. Notre équipe dédiée au support client propose des services de collecte de données, de conception d’études, de gestion de l’échantillon, de programmation et de remise de données. La compagnie dispose de bureaux aux Etats-Unis, en Europe et dans la région Asie-Pacifique. Lightspeed Research fait partie de Kantar, la division d’études et de conseil de WPP. Pour plus d’informations, merci de visiter www.lightspeedresearch.com

A propos de Trendstream

Trendstream est un cabinet de conseil expert des nouveaux usages de l’internet. La compagnie produit des études afin de comprendre l’impact du web, des réseaux sociaux, du mobile et des nouvelles technologies. Trendstream conseille aussi les entreprises sur leur stratégie internet, sur leur communication sur les réseaux sociaux, leur modèle économique et la monétisation des contenus en ligne. Pour plus d’informations, merci de visiter www.trendstream.net

Direct.gov.uk most used website

Direct.gov.uk is the most-used service with 82% of respondents who have looked online for information having used the service compared with 77% who have used their local council’s website. The Government Gateway fails to live up to its name with just under a quarter (23%) of respondents accessing the service.

Money, tax and benefits top the list as the most searched for topics, not surprising given the recent publicity around the January 31st deadline for online tax returns. Overall, there were very few differences in usage between men and women, although men were more likely to look for motoring information than women (30% compared with 22%). By contrast, women were more likely to look for information on education, home and community.

After the internet, we turn to the telephone

Although scores of Britons are logging online to find government information, the survey shows that the traditional telephone is still seen as the next best thing. Four in 10 (41%) would resort to the phone if they failed to find information online while just under a quarter (24%) would seek the information out at a council or government office. Although respondents typically find online government sources to be helpful, 38% said that they needed additional information after consulting government information on the web. Once again, the phone is seen as being the most useful resource – nearly half (47%) of respondents used the phone compared to just over a third (36%) who sought out further information on the web.

The research shows that overall consumers are satisfied with the service that local councils and the government provide online. One in two respondents were “very satisfied” with the information provided on motoring, but this fell to one in four who felt the same about information about crime and justice and just one in five about information for young people. In spite of these differences, consumers generally believe that investment in online services was to be encouraged. 91% of those surveyed thought that expanding the information and services available online was a good use of public funds. Although the large majority of consumers want online services to be expanded and appear to be embracing the age of digital information, respondents are split about how they would like to contact their local council or government. Just one percent separated email, the telephone and websites at 29%, 28% and 27% respectively. Face-to-face dialogues however appear to be a thing of the past with just 12% of respondents preferring this option and only 2% favouring snail mail.

Ralph Risk, Lightspeed Research’s EMEA Marketing Director, said “These results show that people are becoming comfortable with accessing information online. While this research has been done online and may show slightly higher adoption rates, it does show that there are high levels of usage and suggests that the Government’s strategy of ensuring information is available on the web is well accepted by the public. However, the results do show that when people can’t find what they want on the web, it is the telephone that they are most likely to turn to for the personal touch. It is still important therefore for the Government to ensure that they have in place a provision for people who do not have online access, or want to communicate offline.”

When asked about the results*, Mike Hoban, Director of Communications and Engagement at Directgov said: “It’s great to see that Directgov is increasing in popularity since the recent television adverts. The research by Lightspeed Research mirrors our own experience: since the campaign was launched, visits to our website have increased from 20million a month to 27million a month”

Ends

For press enquiries please contact:

Geraldine Gitel, PR Consultant – Greenfields Communications
ggitel@greenfieldscommunications.com Tel: + 44 (0) 07917 855380

Ralph Risk, Marketing Director Europe – Lightspeed Research
Tel office +44 (0)20 7896 1950 mobile +44 (0)787 650 7689 rrisk@lightspeedresearch.com

* Note to editors
This research project was carried out independently of Directgov.

About Lightspeed Research

Through proprietary global panels and research products and services, Lightspeed Research delivers valuable research to help businesses make informed decisions. From recruitment, to activity level, to ongoing profiling, Lightspeed Research’s panels are actively managed to provide engaged survey respondents and support studies that range in scope and complexity across industry sectors. Deeply profiled specialty panels including automotive, B2B, beverage, family and household, finance, health and wellness, media consumption, mobile phone, beauty and personal care, sports and hobbies, and travel and leisure, provide quick access to target audiences. As a leader in quality, Lightspeed Research has implemented extensive measures to prevent fraudulent panel registrations and poor survey data.

Lightspeed Research is part of Kantar, the information, insight and consultancy division of WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY), one of the world’s leading communications services companies. For more information, please visit www.lightspeedresearch.com.

The reports provide insight which will improve market understanding of consumer feelings towards accessing banking services via the mobile device and will help in the design and development of those services. The reports, which are available to MMA members, highlighted other key findings:

In all three countries SMS is currently the most popular medium for the delivery of mobile banking services and information, followed by the mobile Internet. These will remain the most popular delivery and access points in 2010/2011.

In line with the growth of smartphones and app stores, between 1 and 3% of consumers have used downloadable applications which allow for a more complete mobile banking service. These figures are expected to double in 2010/11 in the French and UK markets.

Consumers in all three markets were most interested in viewing account balances on their mobile phone (38% in the UK, 37% in France and 32% in Germany), while branch or ATM locators, using the mobile phone to make in-store payments and deposit or withdrawal notices were all of interest over the coming year.

Young consumers are the most likely to use mobile banking, with 24% of 18-34 year olds in the UK, 20% of the same age range in Germany and 9.5% in France already engaging. French consumers feel that security is of the most importance when deciding on whether to bank using a mobile phone, with 82% citing it as an important factor, while this was less of an issue – though still important – for German and UK consumers at 69% and 66%.

“The study shows an unmistakable interest in and demand for mobile banking services in key European markets,” said Dr. Peter A. Johnson, Vice President of Market Intelligence, MMA. “Financial institutions across France, Germany, and the UK clearly have a significant opportunity to use secure mobile technologies to expand consumer access to banking services that they value.”

“While mobile banking is not yet a mainstream activity, the results do show significant gains in popularity, particularly in the UK, and that mobile is able to provide a viable platform for banking services,” said Ralph Risk, Marketing Director, EMEA, Lightspeed Research. “There is clearly scope in the market to encourage consumers to expand their experience of information-based mobile banking services such as checking account balances to engaging in transactional services.”

Conducted from January 21st to 25th 2010, the survey asked a variety of questions regarding mobile phone and media usage including handset manufacturer, current mobile phone operator, message (text) plan used, current and future interest in specific mobile banking activities, the
importance of security in the decision to use mobile banking and interest in downloading secure mobile banking applications.

A monthly online survey of British, French and German consumers’ mobile marketing behaviours and opinions conducted on the Lightspeed Research omnibus, the MMA Consumer Briefing features input from over 1,000 adult consumers in each market, screened to be demographically representative of the adult consumer population as a whole. Each Consumer Briefing includes a 2- to 3-page executive summary, all survey questions and up to 50 tables of detailed results. Survey responses are provided both in aggregate and in cross-tabulation by standard audience demographics, such as age, gender and income, as well as wireless carrier and handset manufacturer.

MMA Consumer Briefings on this topic are also available for the US market. To learn more about the MMA’s market research benefits, visit the MMA’s Research Home Page.

- Ends –

For press enquiries please contact:
Jen Hibberd and Becca Daniel, Mi liberty
E: mma@miliberty.com
Tel: +44 207 751 4444

Ralph Risk, Marketing Director, EMEA – Lightspeed Research
Tel office +44 (0)20 7896 1950 mobile +44 (0)787 650 7689 rrisk@lightspeedresearch.com

Charlotte Herbert, PR Consultant – Greenfields Communications
cherbert@greenfieldscommunications.com Tel: +44 (0) 7870 204242

About Lightspeed Research

Through proprietary global panels and research products and services, Lightspeed Research delivers valuable research to help businesses make informed decisions. From recruitment, to activity level, to ongoing profiling, Lightspeed Research’s panels are actively managed to provide engaged survey respondents and support studies that range in scope and complexity across industry sectors. Deeply profiled specialty panels including automotive, B2B, beverage, family and household, finance, health and wellness, media consumption, mobile phone, beauty and personal care, sports and hobbies, and travel and leisure, provide quick access to target audiences. As a leader in quality, Lightspeed Research has implemented extensive measures to prevent fraudulent panel registrations and poor survey data.

About The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit trade association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and advertising and their associated technologies. The MMA is an action-oriented organization designed to clear obstacles to market development, establish mobile media guidelines and best practices for sustainable growth, and evangelize the use of the mobile channel. The more than 700 member companies, representing over forty countries around the globe, include all members of the mobile media ecosystem. The Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States and it has regional chapters including North America (NA), Europe, Latin American (LATAM), Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Asia Pacific (APAC) branches. For more information, please visit
www.mmaglobal.com. For information relating to the MMA’s Mobile Marketing Forum series, please visit www.mobilemarketingforum.com.

Offering a wealth of industry knowledge in the form of research, educational tools and case studies, the MMA promotes and evangelizes the mobile channel and sets globally adopted initiatives, guidelines and best practices. One of the additional ways MMA helps grow the industry is by conducting timely, authoritative research and analyses that provide MMA members and their clients a competitive advantage in understanding the market. For all research-related inquiries, please contact research@mmaglobal.com.

The data, covering the UK, France and Germany, will be jointly promoted by Lightspeed Research and the MMA to provide unique insights into mobile usage and behaviour, extending the MMA’s highly successful series of monthly “Mobile Consumer Briefing” reports to three of the most important markets in Europe. These reports provide powerful, up-to-date insights into the latest behaviours of mobile consumers. The first Mobile Consumer Briefing report will be on the subject of mobile banking.

Paul Berney, European Managing Director at the MMA said, “We are delighted to name Lightspeed Research as an official research partner. They have extensive experience in researching the mobile market and as such, will enable us to deliver timely, relevant and highly meaningful insights to our European membership base.”

As an official research partner of the MMA, Lightspeed Research will provide expert advice to the Association on emerging issues in market and media research that affect the mobile industry and sit on the organisation’s committees to help facilitate best practice.

David Day, Global CEO of Lightspeed Research said, “We’ve always been interested in researching how consumers use their mobiles and we are really pleased to collaborate with the MMA to widen access to that insight. This agreement enables us to widen our network and increase awareness of our expertise in this area. We look forward to working with the MMA and their members to reveal new trends in the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technologies.”

“With the mobile consumer constantly adopting new technologies and habits, it is vital that MMA members have a partner with a proven track record like Lightspeed to keep them informed on emerging market opportunities,” said Dr. Peter Johnson, VP of Market Intelligence for MMA.

- Ends -

For press enquiries please contact:

Jen Hibberd and Becca Daniel, Mi liberty
E: mma@miliberty.com
Tel: +44 207 751 4444

Ralph Risk, Marketing Director, EMEA – Lightspeed Research
Tel office +44 (0)20 7896 1950 mobile +44 (0)787 650 7689 rrisk@lightspeedresearch.com

Charlotte Herbert, PR Consultant – Greenfields Communications
cherbert@greenfieldscommunications.com Tel: +44 (0) 7870 204242

About Lightspeed Research

Through proprietary global panels and research products and services, Lightspeed Research delivers valuable research to help businesses make informed decisions. From recruitment, to activity level, to ongoing profiling, Lightspeed Research’s panels are actively managed to provide engaged survey respondents and support studies that range in scope and complexity across industry sectors. Deeply profiled specialty panels including automotive, B2B, beverage, family and household, finance, health and wellness, media consumption, mobile phone, beauty and personal care, sports and hobbies, and travel and leisure, provide quick access to target audiences. As a leader in quality, Lightspeed Research has implemented extensive measures to prevent fraudulent panel registrations and poor survey data.

About The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit trade association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and advertising and their associated technologies. The MMA is an action-oriented organization designed to clear obstacles to market development, establish mobile media guidelines and best practices for sustainable growth, and evangelize the use of the mobile channel. The more than 700 member companies, representing over forty countries around the globe, include all members of the
mobile media ecosystem. The Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States and it has regional chapters including North America (NA), Europe, Latin American (LATAM), Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Asia Pacific (APAC) branches. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com. For information relating to the MMA’s Mobile Marketing Forum series, please visit www.mobilemarketingforum.com.

Offering a wealth of industry knowledge in the form of research, educational tools and case studies, the MMA promotes and evangelizes the mobile channel and sets globally adopted initiatives, guidelines and best practices. One of the additional ways MMA helps grow the industry is by conducting timely, authoritative research and analyses that provide MMA members and their clients a competitive advantage in understanding the market. For all research-related inquiries, please contact research@mmaglobal.com.

Previously Patel was the U.K. Commercial Director at MetrixLab, where he was involved with building the company’s presence in the U.K. market through client acquisition, strategic partnerships and raising market awareness of its product portfolio. A veteran of the research industry, Patel has held senior commercial positions at Nielsen NetRatings, Jupiter Media Metrix and Extel Financial where he gained expertise in the business information, technology, data and consultancy services across financial, media and corporate markets.

“Roy will be a great addition to our organisation and I am delighted to welcome him to the team,” said Cayton. “His expertise and knowledge will ensure we continue to develop our client relationships and maintain our position as a leading panel provider. His team, which gained over 130 new clients in 2009, is one of our key areas of focus. With Roy’s leadership, I feel we are ideally positioned to continue this growth.”

“I am delighted to join Lightspeed Research and be part of one of the pre-eminent global panel companies,” said Roy. “The recent merging of the TNS 6thdimension panels with Lightspeed Research has opened up fantastic opportunities for the company, and I am excited to be part of the team.”

According to the Global Web Index, watching online video has become mainstream, with almost 70% of US internet users watching video clips, 28% watching full length TV and video programming and 19% sharing videos. 29% of US internet users have downloaded free TV shows/films.

The research shows that after South Korea, the US is the most advanced market in terms of the purchasing content online. The US market can pride itself on having the highest number of internet active users – those who spend more than four hours a day online – that are willing to pay for online content. The latest figures suggest that 39 million internet users have paid to download legal music and 33 million have streamed music through a personalized music platform. In comparison, 28.9 million have downloaded illegally either through a peer-to-peer sharing network or a website offering free illegal downloads. (See Chart 1)

Tom Smith, Managing Director of Trendstream who leads the research, says “Thanks to the rise of online services such as Spotify, Hulu and of course YouTube, the environment has been created where you can stream almost all the content you would ever want. If everything I want is available on demand, the concept of ownership is diminished. I no longer need to have it on my hard drive. I just play what I want when I want. This is not only a threat to traditional packaged sales of music, TV and film – it will also kill off piracy. Why pirate when you can stream?”

It’s not just because it’s free, it’s because it’s instant

Although the US market has less issue with staggered content released and benefits from more legal outlets, the lack of legal online alternatives has also created a market for piracy. The research shows that more than half of people downloading illegal media content are not driven by the desire to access it for free. Many are more interested in viewing the content as soon as it is available. Whilst the research shows that consumers don’t like using peer-to-peer sites to access content, they will use them when they can’t find what they want any other way. (See Chart 2)

Tom Smith concludes “This does not mean consumers won’t pay for their online content. When content is great and it can be accessed when and how people want, they will pay. Instead of taking legal action against isolated individuals, content providers should take the opportunity to get their content online in a relevant format and at a fair price. If they do that, people will no longer seek illegal alternatives. In a world of instant information and content, media owners are missing out on millions of dollars of revenue by restricting content through time delays or by relying purely on traditional media delivery.”

– End –

About Global Web Index

Trendstream created the Global Web Index to derive insights on the global impact of web usage and social web involvement. A collaboration between Trendstream and panel provider Lightspeed Research, 16,000 web users are interviewed twice a year in 16 markets to provide a unique
perspective on web behavior and its impact on consumer behavior, technology involvement, purchasing, content consumption, the effectiveness of marketing communications and the role for brands. Global Web Index provides detailed insight into how web behavior and the value of consumer driven communications differs by country, category and different consumer segments. www.globalwebindex.net

About Lightspeed Research

Through proprietary global panels and research products and services, Lightspeed Research delivers valuable data to help businesses make informed decisions. From recruitment, to activity level, to ongoing profiling, Lightspeed Research’s panels are actively managed to provide engaged survey respondents and support studies that range in scope and complexity across industry sectors. Deeply profiled specialty panels including automotive, B2B, beverage, family and household, finance, health and wellness, media consumption, mobile phone, beauty and personal care, sports and hobbies, and travel and leisure, provide quick access to target audiences. As a quality leader, Lightspeed Research has implemented extensive measures to prevent fraudulent panel registrations and poor survey data.

Lightspeed Research is part of Kantar, the information, insight and consultancy division of WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY), one of the world’s leading communications services companies. For more information, please visit www.lightspeedresearch.com or send an email to info@lightspeedresearch.com.

About Trendstream

Trendstream is a research consultancy dedicated to understanding the global impact of technology change. The company produces primary and secondary research to help clients understand the impact of the web, social technologies, mobile and consumer electronics and the resulting implications for consumer behavior, marketing communications, content and business models. The company also advises clients on social web strategy, business models and monetizing content online.

Press Inquiries

Lynnette McCarthy
Marketing Director, The Americas
Lightspeed Research
Phone: 908-630-0542
Email: lmccarthy@lightspeedresearch.com