Adyen has announced its latest global Mobile Payments Index, which covers the period of July through to September 2014. The Mobile Payments Index, which captures data from web-based transactions across Adyen’s customer base of more than 3,500 businesses, found that globally payments over mobile devices contributed 23.3% of total online payments for the quarter, up from 21.5% last quarter.
Asia experiences greatest growth, Europe maintains global lead
Asia now has the second-highest proportion of mobile transactions among global regions, at 17% of total online payments. Comparing August 2013 to August 2014, Asia experienced the strongest mobile payments growth of all regions, increasing by 58%.
Percentage Share of mobile payments per device type
Europe maintained its lead among global regions, with mobile payments averaging at 24 % for the quarter. It also experienced strong growth of 34% from August 2013 to August 2014. The UK leads the pack in Europe and globally, with mobile payments averaging 41% for Q3, followed by the Netherlands and Spain at 26%, France 18% and Germany 16%. North America remains steady, at 16.7%, and Latin America remains below other regions, at 6% for the quarter.
Roelant Prins, Chief Commercial Officer, Adyen, said, “The future belongs to businesses that will continue to adapt to local mobile payment preferences and streamline the checkout flow. Evernote, for example, saw an uplift of 10% after implementing a mobile-optimized checkout for Alipay, the most popular online payment method in China.”
Share of mobile payments per region August 2013 vs August 2014
Mobile authorization rates beat desktop
Interestingly, the Index reveals that authorization rates for online payments are higher on mobile devices than on desktops, averaging 88.1% versus 86.7% for the months of August and September. Furthermore, the proportion of transactions refused by banks on mobile devices is 1.5 percentage points lower than it is on desktops. This reflects the increased emphasis businesses are placing on streamlining mobile payment processing now that it has become a primary sales channel.
Digital goods versus physical goods across desktop, tablet, and smartphone
The Index examines vertical industries split by digital goods (such as games, services like club memberships, hotel reservations, and tickets) versus physical goods/retail (such as clothing, furniture, appliances, groceries). The data shows that throughout Q3, people used smartphones more than tablets when purchasing digital goods, but the opposite is true with physical goods:
- Digital goods: desktop 72%; smartphone 20%; tablet 8%
- Physical goods: desktop 71%; smartphone 11%; tablet 18%
The Average Transaction Value (ATV) of physical goods is higher, at €86.1 versus €26.2 for digital goods according to Index data. This correlation suggests people are more comfortable making higher value purchases over tablet devices. Shoppers’ tendency to purchase physical goods on a tablet rather than smartphone also suggests the larger screens offer a better way to view and browse physical products.
Smartphone share is up, tablet share is steady
The Index shows a clear preference for smartphones over tablets, with 57% of total mobile payments between July and September made on a smartphone, compared with 43% on a tablet. As shown in the Mobile Payment Index Infographic, smartphone transaction share continues on an upward gradient, while tablet transaction share appears to be levelling out. This correlates with a consumer trend toward smartphones with larger screen sizes, and a levelling out of tablet sales.
Operating systems: iOS versus Android
While iOS across both tablets and smartphones still leads against Android overall at 62% to 38% for Q3, Android is gaining share – in Q2 this year, the ratio was even greater at 69% to 31%. On a regional level, the breakdown for the month of September 2014 is as follows:
- North America: 4.3% of all online payments were made on Android vs 11.8% on iOS
- Europe: 8.3% on Android vs 15.6% on iOS
- Asia: 7.5% on Android vs 10.1% on iOS
- Latin America: 2.1% on Android vs 3.3% on iOS
However, there is also strong variation in operating systems’ market share within regions. For example, in Malaysia, Spain, and Argentina, Android accounts for 69%, 55% and 69% respectively of all mobile transactions.
Pascal Burg, Director at Edgar, Dunn & Company, strategy consultancy firm, said: “With mobile representing over 40% of total online payments in some countries like the UK, the Mobile Payment Index confirms recent survey results that show that omni-channel payments and mobile payments will be two of the top three challenges for merchants in 2015. Optimizing payments in this fast growing mobile channel requires more than “copy-pasting” desktop-related best practices. It requires a dedicated, forward thinking mobile payment strategy.”
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