Worldwide mobile payments will account for $1 trillion in 2017, up 124 per cent from the less than $500 billion expected in 2015.

That’s according to figures from the International Data Corporation (IDC), which believes that markets in Asia-Pacific will drive this growth, as mobile commerce takes off in the region. The research firm added that the limited state of credit and debit card adoption in Asia-Pacific would eventually force m-payments behaviour to shift to bank account-linked mobile wallets.

“Smartphone adoption has grown much more rapidly than general banking and card adoption in the Asia-Pacific region," explained Shiv Putcha, associate research director at IDC Asia-Pacific. “Recent focus on financial inclusion policies in various countries has given a boost to connecting the unbanked. This phenomenon, coupled with the innovation of semi-closed wallet schemes linked to bank accounts, has given a major boost to mobile payments in Asia-Pacific.”

‘Semi-closed’ wallets involve customers topping up their mobile wallet much like they would a prepaid mobile account, by linking it to their bank account. IDC said that Asia’s emerging markets, which account for most of the continent’s population, were more likely to go down that path than adopt NFC-based mobile payments solutions such as Apple Pay or Android Pay.

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