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Mobile Payments to Grow Rapidly in APAC - IDC

Mobile Payments to Grow Rapidly in APAC - IDC Image Credit: Samsung

Asia Pacific mobile commerce(m-commerce) market is poised for rapid growth and is expected to contribute significantly to the global mobile payments market which is forecast to reach $1 trillion USD in 2017, marking a 124 percent increase from $500 billion this year, according to IDC. Driven by a high number of initiatives and diverse m-commerce maturity level, the Asia Pacific region is expected to lead the world in mobile payment (or m-payments) developments.

IDC believes that the strongest growth for m-payments will be driven in part by rising levels of m-commerce as emerging nations come online for the first time and witness an internet boom via smartphones. Furthermore, the limited state of credit/debit card adoption in Asia Pacific will force potential m-payments behavior to shift to using bank account linked mobile wallets. 

The mature Asian markets like Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore with strong levels of banking and card adoption will tread a similar path as mature Western economies have for mobile payments, with a focus on proximity solutions based on Near Field Communications (NFC). These will be fertile markets for solutions like Apple Pay and Android Pay, said IDC

However, IDC believes Asia's emerging markets, which account for most of Asia's population, are unlikely to follow this path. They will more likely leverage semi-closed wallets, where consumers "top-up" their mobile wallets much like they would a prepaid mobile account by linking their bank accounts.

Shiv Putcha, Associate Research Director, and AP Connected Consumer Marketplaces at IDC Asia/Pacific
Smartphone adoption has grown much more rapidly than general banking and card adoption in the Asia/Pacific region. 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.

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

For tips and feedback, email Ray at ray.sharma(at)thefastmode.com, or reach him on LinkedIn @raysharma10, Facebook @1RaySharma

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