Contactless Mobile Payments Set to Grow Over Next Five Years

Forrester estimates that only 4 percent of the $13 billion worth of mobile payments made in 2012 where contactless or proximity payments, but that this segment of mobile payments is set to grow along with the whole sector in the next five years. Forrester’s Denee Carrington says that proximity payments will account for 45 percent of all mobile payments by 2017 and that the major growth in that segment will occur in 2014 and 2015, jumping to 12 and 31 percent respectively. Carrington says the groundwork for this growth will be laid in 2013. The combination of the increased availability of contactless payment methods such as NFC and barcodes on smartphones, the adoption of new EMV-compliant point of sale hardware by merchants, and the increasing visibility of contactless payment will fuel consumer awareness. Other factors will include improved data security for contactless payments and the introduction of mobile wallet services by major credit card issuers. Forrester estimates that only 2 percent of consumers currently use contactless payment methods, but that more than a third are open to it and that both numbers will increase as contactless payment options become more visible and viable.

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