Mobile point of sale (mPoS) devices connecting wirelessly or via mobile devices will account for 24 per cent of all point of sale transactions by 2023, according to new research.

The study from Juniper found that mPoS devices, such as those from iZettle and Square, will account for 87 billion transactions by 2023, representing a threefold increase over an estimated 28 billion transactions in 2018.

In addition, the adoption of mPoS across the world will drive an increased usage of payment cards in emerging markets, such as India. The research found that the digitisation of payments, spurred on by the policy of demonetisation, means that growth in the number of mPoS devices in India will be the fastest of any global region, at an average annual growth rate of 46 per cent over the next five years.

The average price of an mPoS device will also drop from $40 in 2018 to approximately $33 by 2023. The affordability, coupled with the ease-of-use will drive adoption in smaller, previously cash-driven businesses.

Research author Nick Maynard explained: “As a result of the popularity of Square and iZettle, traditional PoS manufacturers have identified mPoS as an important way to diversify revenue streams, at a time when established revenue streams are losing momentum.”

The research also forecasts that biometrics will become an increasingly common part of mPoS offerings. It cited national identity schemes using biometrics, such as Aadhar in India, as a mechanism for card-free authentication, giving merchants the opportunity to avoid card network charges. This will drive biometric-enabled mPoS devices to reach almost two million globally by 2023, just under four per cent of total mPoS terminals in use by then.

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