Mobile payments are starting to gain a foothold in the U.S. More and more retailers are enabling customers to use technologies such as Android Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. However, these payment apps are still relatively unknown and highly underutilized.

When I discuss mobile payments with friends and colleagues — people including IT and security professionals, a bank chairman and close relatives — the conversation is very predictable. It goes something like this: “Oh, I don’t know about that. It seems risky.” There’s a general lack of trust and people aren’t willing to take that chance with their credit cards — but why?