Mobile payments seen to hit $1T in 2015

MANILA, Philippines - Mobile payment transactions are forecast to generate up to $1 trillion by 2015 according to Heavy Reading, an independent research organization offering deep analysis of emerging telecommunication trends to network operators, technology and investors.

Juniper Research meanwhile estimates that a quarter of tablet PC users will use their device to pay bills by 2017. Juniper Research is a mobile research specialists group, providing market intelligence, consulting, market data and forecasting to the mobile telecommunication industry.

The Heavy Reading study also forecasts that one of the biggest drivers over the next two years will be enabling mobile payments vendors and providers to enable targeted services to users, which will improve customer service.

“New industry partnerships are expected to take place, in which billing providers, financial institutions and carriers team up to bring new services to the market,” it added.

Meanwhile, Juniper calculates that users of transactional tablet banking services will number almost 200 million in 2017. This will account for around 19 percent of total mobile banking customers in 2017, up from nine percent this year.

Tablet users will be keener to adopt mobile bill presentment and payment (MBPP) services than mobile handset users, particularly in developed markets (where there is a higher adoption of tablet devices).

It added that smartphone-based banking will also increase, as banks continue bundling MBPP services within their mobile banking platforms and easier-to-use apps.

The report, Mobile Banking: Handset & Tablet Market Strategies 2013-2017, anticipates that the developed markets of Far East & China, along with North America and Western Europe, will have the highest penetration of banking users in 2017.