Mobile Payments “To Increase By 1000 Percent” In 2015

2015 could be the year in which mobile payments really explode into the mainstream, according to a new report.

Research by Deloitte, published in its annual Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions report, predicts that in-store mobile payments will increase by more than 1,000 percent worldwide this year.

This year, about 10 percent of the base of smartphones worldwide will be used to make an in-store payment at least once a month, compared to less than half a percent (led by early adopters in Japan) of about 450 million smartphones in mid-2014.

Breakthrough

2015 will be the first year in which the multiple prerequisites for mainstream adoption – satisfying financial institutions, merchants, consumers and device vendors – have been sufficiently addressed, the report says.

The huge rise in the number of NFC-enabled smartphones will also be a crucial factor, particularly in mobile payment technology being spread across developing markets, Deloitte says.

As more and more consumers become familiar with the process and more merchants in more markets begin accepting such methods of payments, both the volume of NFC smartphone transactions and the range of spend value will increase steadily over time, the report adds.

We expect the largest card issuers in the majority of the largest developed countries to have activated NFC smartphone payments by end 2015.

“Smartphones are already being used to check balances, transfer funds and transact online, but they have not reached a ‘mobile wallet’ status globally,” said Jolyon Barker, managing director, Global TMT Industry, Deloitte Global.

“We predict 2015 will be the first year that all mainstream mobile requirements will be addressed, making smartphone payment options easier, with user friendly security in place.”

British shoppers certainly seem to be ready to embrace mobile payments, with many leading retailers also keen to implement the technology into their stores.

A survey conducted for m-payment company Zapp last December found that nearly half of UK customers (some 21 million people) would be prepared to leave if their current bank was unable to offer mobile payments and had no plans to do so.

Earlier research from Oxygen8 also found that over half (47 percent) of mobile users in the UK would like to use their mobile phone more to pay for goods and services.

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