The mobile wallets industry continues booming, with more people than ever choosing mobile payment services as a safer and more convenient way of managing money.
According to data presented by Block Arabia, the transaction value in the mobile POS payments segment is expected to hit $2.48trn in 2021, a massive $481bn increase in a year.
Global Mobile Wallets Industry to Continue Growing by 20% YoY, European Market to Surge by 67% by 2023
The global shift towards a cashless society created a huge space for mobile wallets. Over the last few years, they became very popular among tech-savvy consumers in developed countries. They also provided access to electronic transactions for hundreds of millions of people in underbanked markets.
However, as people started questioning the safety of using banknotes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire sector witnessed unprecedented growth. The Statista survey showed the transaction value in the mobile POS payments segment surged by 67% last year, rising from $1.19trn to over $2trn.
In 2021, the entire market is expected to grow by another 24% and hit nearly $2.5trn value. Furthermore, statistics show that mobile wallet payments are forecast to continue rising by an average of 20% YoY in the following years and hit $3.51trn by 2023.
Although the mobile wallets market is generally dominated by Asian countries, spearheaded by China as the global leader, other regions are expected to witness much bigger growth. By 2023, the Asian mobile wallets market will grow by 29% and hit a $1.91trn value, up from $1.47trn this year.
As the second-largest region, North America is expected to witness a 50% growth in this period, with the transaction value jumping from $503.2bn in 2021 to $758.6bn in 2023.
However, Europe, with the United Kingdom as the leading market, is set to witness even more impressive market growth. Statistics show mobile payments in the European countries are forecast to surge by 67% to $590.4bn in 2023, compared to $352.9bn in 2021.
More than 1.7 Billion People to Use Mobile Wallets by 2023, Penetration rate to Hit 22.3%
The Statista survey showed the number of people using mobile wallets to make payments also surged since the pandemic hit and is expected to continue growing strongly in the following years.
In 2021, the number of users in the mobile POS payments segment is forecast to reach 1.48 billion, with a 19.7% penetration rate on a global level. Nearly two-thirds of mobile wallet users, or 1.1 billion, are from Asian countries. Europe and North America follow with 135.5 billion and 80.1 billion users, respectively.
Statistics show that the number of users will jump over 1.7 billion in the next two years, with the penetration rate rising to 22.3%. Again, most of them are expected to come from Asian countries, or around 1.24 billion, with an impressive 27.6% penetration rate.
The European and North American markets are forecast to reach 161 million and 98.7 million users by 2023, respectively.
