Online payments made using mobile devices continues to rise globally – according to the quarterly Mobile Payments Index (MPI), which tracks mobile payment data from web-based transactions – now accounting for 27.2% of the total online payments made in Q1 2015.
This is up from 25.8% on the traditionally high online spending period of Q4 and up a massive 39% on the corresponding period last year. The average transaction value (ATV) of digital goods purchased via tablets has surpassed the figure for desktops/laptops for the first time since Adyen began publishing the Mobile Payments Index in June 2013.
The US shows strong growth, while the UK leads the way
The US market showed impressive growth in Q1, with 26.7% of payments online being
Payments share per mobile device type
made on mobile, an increase of nearly five percentage points over the past six months. This rate of growth compared favorably with Europe, which increased only two percentage points in the same period. However, it must be noted that in terms of regions, Europe led the way overall, with 28.6% of payments online made with mobile. Meanwhile, Asian markets have for the first time broken the 20% barrier for online mobile payments.
In terms of individual markets, the UK stands head and shoulders above the global averages. In Q1 2015, 44.4% of online payments in the UK were made using a mobile device up from 36.9% for the corresponding period in 2014 – with smartphones accounting for 66% of that figure compared with 64.9% in 2014.
Tablets attract highest spend per transaction for first time
The Index shows that the average transaction value for the digital goods industry has risen across all platforms over the past 12 months. Digital spend online increased 28% and 30% respectively for desktops/laptops and tablets, but the greatest leap was over mobile devices, where the ATV rose 37% year-on-year to €28.27. While smartphones are growing fastest, the quarter saw tablets with an ATV of €32.66 surpass desktops/laptops (with an ATV of €31.19) for the first time.
Mobile payments share & Average Transaction
Smartphones race ahead, tablets inch forward
ATV on smartphones may be lower than for tablets, but in pure volume terms the gap between spending on smartphones and tablets has widened dramatically. In March 2014, smartphones accounted for 10.9% of online transactions, compared to 9.3% for tablets. By March 2015, smartphones were accounting for 16% of online transactions, compared to 11.5% for tablets – reflecting an almost 300% increase in the gap between smartphone and tablet share. In the same period of time, desktops dropped from 79.8% of online transactions to 72.5%.
“Tablets may well be approaching market saturation but thanks to retailers and businesses focusing on optimizing the payment process for the channel, they are attracting increasing spend as consumers become more comfortable using these devices to pay for things online,” said Roelant Prins, Chief Commercial Officer, Adyen. “There has been a seismic shift in how and where people are comfortable spending money. All mobile channels in the past 12 months have experienced impressive uplift.”
iOS versus Android
In the battle of the smartphone operating systems, Apple still rules the roost, but Google and the Open Handset Alliance are closing the gap. iOS ended Q1 2015 with a 65% market share of online mobile payments, down from 69.5% last year. Meanwhile Android claimed 34.9% at the close of Q1 2015, up from 30.3% in Q1 2014. Android may be closing the gap on iOS, but the Apple percentages are much more balanced than Android across devices – in Q1 2015, iPads accounted for 47.2% of iOS mobile payments, versus 52.8% for iPhones, while for the same period Android mobiles made up 78.2 of the total Android payments.
“The UK’s position as the world’s number one in mobile payments speaks volumes for the country’s payments infrastructure, its highly competitive mobile network landscape and the general populations’ continued willingness to exploit new payment channels,” said Myles Dawson, UK Country Manager, Adyen.
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