MANILA, Philippines - Global mobile payment transaction values is forecast to hit $235.4 billion in 2013, a 44-percent increase from 2012 values of $163.1 billion, according to Gartner Inc. The number of mobile payment users worldwide will reach 245.2 million in 2013, up from 200.8 million in 2012. Gartner research director was quoted to have said that it expects global mobile transaction volume and value to average 35-percent annual growth between 2012 and 2017, and a market worth $721 billion with more than 450 million users by 2017. Likewise, Near Field Communications’ (NFC’s) transaction value has been reduced by more 40 percent throughout the forecast period due to disappointing adoption of NFC technology in all markets in 2012 and the fact that some high-profile services, such as Google Wallet and Isis, are struggling to gain traction. Gartner forecasts that NFC will account for only about two percent of total transaction value in 2013 and five percent of the total transaction value in 2017, although growth is expected to increase somewhat from 2016 when the penetration of NFC mobile phones and contact-less readers increases.