Mobile Payments Are Poised To Take Off In The US

Mobile payments have a huge amount of room for growth.

• BII
  BI Intelligence estimates that global mobile payments reached about $223 billion in volume for 2013.
• That works out to about 4% of total global credit and debit card transaction volume in 2013.

But the U.S. has been lagging behind mobile payments leaders like Asia-Pacific and Africa. In 2013, U.S. mobile payments and commerce already combined for about 2% of total credit and debit card volume.

However, we believe U.S. mobile payments are poised for strong future growth. Mobile-based transactions in the U.S. have grown 118% per year on average for the last five years. It's what will make the U.S. a leader in the mobile payments space going forward.

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In the report, we put numbers to the trends and explain why mobile transaction volume is growing so explosively. A significant portion of card-powered e-commerce transactions take place on tablet or smartphone devices. Tablets and smartphones are also powering card-based transactions at physical stores through apps, scannable QR codes, and attachable card readers that transform devices into cash registers.

The report answers the main questions surrounding this rapidly growing industry:

• What exactly is a mobile payment?: There's a lot of confusion out there about what constitutes a "mobile payment," and we reiterate our definition. A mobile payment occurs when a mobile, Internet-connected device is used to facilitate a transaction that might otherwise have taken place using a physical credit card, check, or cash, at a store or point-of-sale. Mobile transactions are a larger category that includes these payments, but also includes mobile commerce, or e-commerce channeled by an app or mobile website (e.g., Amazon's iPhone app).
• Are consumers taking to these solutions?: Smartphone users are becoming aware of mobile wallets, payments apps, and QR-scanning apps and using them to facilitate offline and online purchases - most famously at Starbucks coffee stores. However, overall usage is still low. We look at the dynamics that will drive future adoption.
• Who's winning in this space?: Payments start-ups are enjoying massive growth and helping to push forward innovation. A wave of acquisitions and mergers will clean this space up.
• How fast is innovation occurring?: It's happening all the time. For example, Amazon's "Pay With Amazon" product allows the 215 million active Amazon account-holders to use their payment info as they shop on their PCs and mobile devices on different commerce sites and apps.
• Is disruption still possible?: Yes. Take near-field communications, or NFC - uptake has failed to impress. Now, Apple's Bluetooth-powered iBeacons technology may challenge NFC head-on.

The report is full of charts and data that can be easily downloaded and put to use.

The full report:

• Provides estimates on the proportion of U.S. and global credit and debit card-powered transactions that occur on mobile devices, both at point-of-sale and remotely.
• Explains why most mobile commerce and mobile payments apps and hardware still depend on credit card numbers to power transactions.
• Compares the various consumer-side mobile wallets, both in terms of awareness and adoption.
• Analyzes the mobile wallet "disconnect," the tendency of consumers to say they want added services on mobile wallets, despite the relatively low availability of such services.
• Examines PayPal's acquisition of Braintree as an example of the deals that will shape the industry's future.
• Looks at how legacy players like Visa are positioning themselves.
• Offers an update on the state of NFC and competing Bluetooth-powered solutions like Apple's iBeacons.
• Quotes industry leaders on their vision of mobile's role in the transactions space.

To access BI Intelligence's full report on Mobile Payments, along with BI Intelligence's in-depth coverage of the mobile, social, payments, video, and e-commerce industries, sign up for a free trial subscription here.