Dive Brief:

• Contactless payment systems are growing, a survey indicates.

• A 2015 Data Security in the Evolving Payments Ecosystem study found more than half of survey respondents believe the use of mobile payment systems increase the risk of a data breach.

• Experts say mobile payments are actually more secure than traditional credit card transactions overall.

Dive Insight:

As more consumers pay via smartphones or smartwatches, some business leaders fear those transactions are upping their security risks. More than half of the respondents to a recent Ponemon Institute study said they believe the use of mobile payment systems increase the risk of a data breach. But it appears it’s a risk worth taking. Fifty-three percent of respondents said their companies believe customer convenience is more important than those security concerns.

Meanwhile, analysts and security experts say mobile payment systems could actually boost a company's security profile. Mobile payments, they say, are more secure than traditional credit card transactions overall. But experts also say IT leaders aren't off the hook when it comes to security. The greatest risk remains hackers getting into the credit card data stored by companies.