Forecasts predict that by 2022, just 17% of global payments will be made by cash. Meanwhile, digital and mobile wallet usage will continue to rise, accounting for 28% of all point of sale transactions in just three years’ time.

Expert Market, a comparison site for card payment systems, has created a new infographic which maps mobile wallet usage in 36 countries around the globe. The graphic highlights the countries that are leading the mobile wallet payment revolution, and even analyses the profile of the average e-wallet user.

The new infographic presents information on the year-on-year growth of mobile payments, the average spend, age, and income of mobile wallet users, and the global growth of popular mobile payment platforms Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay.

Bronze for Brits in Mobile Wallet Race

The British have the third highest e-wallet usage in the world, with 5% of all point of sale transactions (one in every twenty) coming from a digital wallet user. The UK beats out European rivals France (1%), Spain (3%) and The Netherlands (3%), and even surpasses the USA (3%).

Despite the UK’s position as one of the top three e-wallet adopting countries, Brits are still heavily reliant on contactless cards for the moment, preferring to tap and wave plastic instead of using their phones. However, considering London’s transport system is one of the few mobile-ready travel infrastructures in Europe, consumers in the capital may be persuaded sooner rather than later that physical wallets are best left behind as we enter the 2020s.

China Charges towards Cashless Future

Mobile wallets account for a staggering 36% of China’s total point of sale transactions – that’s more than a third of all payments in the country, and six times more than nearest rivals India (6%) and the UAE (6%)! Consumers in China use mobile wallets nine times more that the rest of their international colleagues, a colossal gap that puts China light years ahead of Europe in terms of cashless readiness.

Canada Cashed Out of Top Three

Canada fails to keep up with its American neighbours, crashing out at the bottom of the leaderboard. With only 1% of payments taken via mobile wallet, Canada languishes behind the USA (3%) and even South American trailblazers Brazil (3%) and Argentina (4%).

The Only Way is Up

Mobile wallet usage is increasing at every turn; the global number of users is up by an average of 140 million YoY, while the average annual spend per user is rising by an average of $124 YoY. Whereas Apple Pay was used for just $15 million worth of transactions in 2015, by 2017, it had grown nearly six times in size, accounting for $86 million worth of payments. With all data pointing to the increasing popularity of mobile wallet payments, businesses who fail to adapt risk losing out.

Rich, Mobile Wallet-Wielding Millennials

The analysis reveals that most mobile wallet users (35%) are in the 25-34 ‘millennial’ age bracket, and that the majority (40%) are high earners. This lucrative demographic will only grow in purchasing power, and is well worth businesses freshening their payment infrastructure for –  especially when mobile wallet platforms like Apple Pay offer ‘limitless’ spend transactions, cited to up the average spend per transaction by an impressive 11% .

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