Tag: mobile payments trends

M-payments take off in China by 255 percent

| May 30, 2014

A new report has shown that during the first quarter, alone, transactions reached the $623 billion mark.

According to a recent report that was released by the People’s Bank of China, m-payments were responsible for approximately $623 billion during the first quarter of 2014.

That market is clearly loving paying over mobile phones and consumers are rapidly adopting this tech.

The use of m-payments has skyrocketed in China by 255 percent during the first quarter, alone, when compared to the same quarter in 2013. This report underscores the trend toward mobile when it comes to the spending habits of consumers in China. This has made the country a world leader when it comes to the adoption and use of this technology, which has seen little more than struggles in convincing consumers to try it for the first time, let alone use it on a regular basis.

M-payments growth is to be expected in a market where 283 million smartphones will be shipped, this year.

In China, the use of the internet is also spiking at a similar pace, over both mobile devices and over laptops. Some of the primary evidence of this trend is over the giant, Alibaba, that has been pushing its products over both channels and which has seen a staggering 66 percent year over year growth within this year’s first quarter. Bolstered by mobile payments, that company brought in $3.1 billion in the first three months of 2014.China m-payments

That said, the achievement pales in comparison to last year’s Singles Day in November. That holiday is a celebration of being single. Tmall and Taobao – both companies owned by Alibaba – took in $5.75 billion in revenue during that single day. That brought about an increase of 80 percent in the sales that were experienced on that day, when compared to the year before. This has been greatly credited to the rise of the use of mobile devices for shopping.

A PwC survey that was conducted in China last year showed that at that time, shoppers in the country were already using their smartphones and tablets to buy on a daily basis, while 62 percent were doing so weekly. This was a 96 percent raise over 2012’s figures and makes it evident that m-payments – just like mobile commerce – will continue their popularity and growth in the country.

Mobile payments aren’t being used all that often

| March 6, 2014

Even among users of these smartphone based wallets, the services aren’t used for most purchases.

Although mobile payments, as a whole, have started to attract the interest of some consumers, they are not providing the true adoption rates that would be required to call this transaction method an actual mainstream success.

Mobile wallets are being used by only 16 percent of device owners.

Moreover, even among those who actually use them, only very few are using them all that often, says a Yankee Group report that has recently been published. It stated that over the three months before the report, only 16 percent of smartphone owners actually used those devices for making a purchase in store.

The report showed that despite this, two thirds of consumers are actually interested in mobile payments.

The report was titled “U.S. Mobile Wallet Roundup: Gauging the Future Potential of Today’s Solutions”. It explained that while there is widespread interest in these wallets, that is not translating into actual adoption, quite yet. That report also assigned PayPal the top spot within this particular space, as 15 percent of consumers had use the company’s app within the previous month for making a purchase in-store.Mobile Payments Not Used Often

Within the report, a Yankee Group analyst named Jordan McKee pointed out that every day seems to produce another level of growth when it comes to mobile wallets. However, the actual success in that area is not quite as defined as the hype, itself. McKee added that despite the fact that there have been massive investments throughout this environment, which have been worth billions of dollars, the actual uptake and use of this technology has been far less than “illustrious”.

Among those who are actually using mobile payments, 73 percent are doing so less than five times per month. This indicates that this type of transaction still has a long way to go before it is the top choice among even those consumers who are actually using it – which are clearly in the minority. It is the opinion of the report that this will not see a drastic “change anytime soon”, though they do feel that there is great potential over time due to the massive consumer interest.