Mobile Contactless Payment Market to Surge by 24% to $2.5 Trillion in 2021

Demand for mobile contactless payment options has been on a steep uptrend in recent years, gaining additional impetus from the pandemic in 2020. The space is expected to maintain its robust momentum through 2021 and beyond.

According to the research data analyzed and published by ComprarAcciones.com, the market hit a benchmark of $2 trillion in transaction value in 2020. The value is projected to surge by close to $500 million in 2021, translating to a growth rate of 107% in two years.

By the end of 2021, the total transaction value is estimated to be $2.489 trillion. That will be 24% higher than the 2.008 trillion recorded in the previous year.

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To put the market’s growth in perspective, data from Statista reveals that it was worth $755.6 billion in 2018. By 2019, the value was up by 90% at $1.198 trillion.

The remarkable growth seen in 2020 came about as a result of the rapid shift to digital payments due to the pandemic.

In subsequent years, the market is expected to keep up with the rising trend. It will grow by 40% between 2021 and 2023 to reach a value of $3.516 trillion. By 2025, it is projected to be worth approximately $4.6 trillion.

Average transaction value per user in the segment is set to grow by 25% from 2019 and 2021, to reach $1,670. By 2023, the amount is set to soar by 22% to $2,051.

Worldwide Mobile Wallet Users Will Surge 11% to 1.5 Billion in 2021

Recent years have also seen tremendous growth in the number of people using this contactless payment option.

According to Statista, there were 901.2 million users globally in 2019. The figure rose to 1.34 billion in 2020 and is expected to rise by 11% to 1.49 billion by the end of 2021.

Though the growth rate is set to slow down slightly in coming years, the number will keep rising, to reach 1.89 billion by 2025.

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Countries in Asia Pacific have been the dominant players in the mobile payments market, with China at the forefront. China’s dominance is attributable to existing market conditions that favored a growth in popularity for mobile wallets.

The country is an undisputed global leader in the mobile payment market. According to the National Statistics Bureau of China, there were 1.592 billion registered mobile phone subscriptions in the country as of February 2021.

China’s mobile payment transaction value is forecast to hit $1.3 trillion in 2021. And by 2023, the country is forecast to account for over 50% of worldwide mobile wallet payments.

The United States ranks second with total transaction value estimated at $465.1 billion in 2021, about a third of China’s. In the coming years, the market is expected to register robust growth, soaring by 49% to $698 billion by 2023.

In third place is the United Kingdom, whose transaction value in 2021 is projected to reach $98.5 billion. That would translate to an astounding 195% surge in a span of two years. The figure is expected to grow by 60% between 2021 and 2023, to reach $157.8 billion.

Contactless Mobile Payment Users to Account for 50% of US Smartphone Users by 2025

Based on a study by eMarketer, in-store mobile payment app users in the US numbered 92.3 million in 2020, up by 29% YoY. In 2021, the figure is expected to cross the 100 million threshold, rising by 9.7% to 101.2 million.

Though the growth rate is projected to keep falling in subsequent years, the total number of users will rise to 125 million by 2025.

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A majority of users started using mobile contactless payments in 2020 in a bid to avoid paper money and credit/debit cards. Most of these new users were millennials and Gen Z.

In the period between 2021 and 2025, the number of mobile wallet users will grow by 6.5 million per year. From this number, 4 million will be Gen Zers. On the other hand, millennials, who currently account for 40% of mobile wallet users will shrink.

In 2020, contactless mobile payment users accounted for a 40.1% share of all smartphone users. The figure is projected to increase to 43.2% in 2021 and keep rising in the coming years to reach 50.1% by 2025.

Additionally, the average spending per user in the US is significantly higher than the global average. In 2020, every mobile wallet user spent on average $1,973.7, marking a 10.1% YoY increase.

The year 2021 will see a dramatic rise of 23.6%, sending the average to $2,439.7. By 2025, the figure will have increased to $4,064.3.