The digital wallet market has been steadily growing until 2019 when the coronavirus pandemic began. A new report shows that between 2019 and 2020 the number of users has nearly doubled.
The safety, security and convenience of digital wallets as well as the popularity of smartphones and general digitalisation of society are among the main reasons for the popularity of this method.
In terms of revenue, since 2015 the total revenue generated by mobile payment apps has nearly tripled and is expected to reach over 1639.5 trillion by the end of 2022.
51.7% of transactions predicted to be cashless by 2024
The report revealed our shifting shopping patterns have influenced the rapid adaptation of digital wallets. It comes at no surprise that in 2024 mobile wallets are predicted to be adapted by more than half of the overall population.
More traditional methods such as credit or debit cards are slowly entering the decline phase, a fact that Payments Cards & Mobile has been detailing in its annual statistical reports.
The physical aspect of payment methods is clearly affecting our payment preferences. Our society is opting for more convenient contactless methods and the cash participation in our transactions will be decreasing.
Biggest players: WeChat & Alipay
Merchant Machine identified which digital wallets are leading in regards to the number of users worldwide. The revolutionary mobile payment platforms, WeChat and Alipay, have amassed 650 million and 550 million users respectively.
According to Focus Finance, when Alipay introduced E-Wallets, that usage began to increase substantially.
“Alibaba was able to seamlessly integrate AliPay into their online marketplace and easily acquire new users by cross-marketing it with their current service offerings,” they explained.
Other platforms that made it to the top five include Apple Pay (507 million), Google Pay (421 million), and PayPal (377 million).
Their popularity in Europe and North America is down to mobile brands such as Apple and Samsung whose products are dominating the market.
87.3% of Chinese citizens adopt mobile payments
According to a study, China is revealed as the country with the biggest adoption of mobile payments among its citizens.
The common usage of contactless payments in China is down to society utilising tech solutions in every aspect of their life.
Technologically advanced Nordics have also made it into the top 10, with Denmark (2nd), Sweden (5th) and Norway (8th) seeing the biggest increase in people using contactless payment methods.
It was additionally found that US citizens’ adoption of mobile wallets has increased by over 14% between 2019 and 2021, which is the most significant out of all countries on the list.
The post Digital wallets to be adopted by over one third of global population by 2024 appeared first on Payments Cards & Mobile.
