Think mobile marketing, advertising, gaming — mobile anything, in fact — are growing at a brisk pace? That’s nothing compared to mobile payments.
Apparently, 2015 won’t just be big for mobile payments. It will be epic.
New research from Deloitte calls for in-store mobile payments to increase by more than 1,000 percent globally 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,” Tech Week Europe reports.
All told, this year will be the first where “multiple prerequisites” for fast growth – including “satisfying financial institutions, merchants, consumers and device vendors” – will be met.
“Smartphones are already being used to check balances, transfer funds and transact online, but they have not reached a ‘mobile wallet’ status globally,” says Jolyon Barker of 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.”