When was the last time that you used a mobile phone to pay for a retail purchase? If you said never, well your answer to this question is likely to change in the foreseeable future. Here's the reasons why.
The growing adoption of web-enabled smartphones is becoming a catalyst to develop the market for mobile payment transaction volume. In fact, transactions will actually increase at a pace greater than the number of users, as individuals adopt mobile payment solutions for an increasing portion of their payments.
As consumers become more familiar with mobile payments, and as the number of retailers supporting these solutions increases, the rate of usage will increase exponentially.
Therefore, it's expected that the number of annual mobile payment transactions will increase to 45 billion in 2015, according to the latest market study by In-Stat.
"Despite mobile payment's perennial failure to launch globally, 2011 will be a significant year for market growth," says Amy Cravens, Senior Analyst at In-Stat.
The interest in mobile payments that's demonstrated by big players worldwide -- including banks, credit card companies, mobile operators, and handset or operating system providers -- is largely driving that upside opportunity.
Areas expected to generate significant activity in 2011 include:
- Near Field Communications: 2011 is poised to be the year for NFC as it evolves from a concept to a strategy that is actively being pursued.
- Mobile web payments: A big growth area that is highly correlated to smartphone trends.
- App store billing: Handset manufacturers are partnering with mobile payment providers to enable carrier billing and improve consumer purchase experience and carry through.
- Micropayment: Using your mobile phone for small payments by deducting funds from a virtual wallet is gaining momentum.
- Intersection between payments and other applications: Mobile payment concepts are emerging as a means to improve the consumer shopping experience by communicating information and simplifying the shopping experience.
