Proximity mobile payments on the rise
Proximity mobile payments have been huge in 2015. eMarketer expects that by the end of December of this year, US proximity payments will have doubled from 2014’s numbers to hit an amazing $8.71 billion. But that’s nothing compared to what’s expected from 2016.
eMarketer believes that with this continuously increasing user base, more merchants will be willing to accept proximity payment, more consumers will continue using their phones to pay for products, and proximity payment will quickly become the norm across the US. And 2016 will see a shocking $27.05 billion in mobile payments, which is triple the expected transaction value of 2015.
The increases don’t stop in 2016
By 2017 mobile payments will reach $61.75 billion and in 2018 a staggering $114.63. By 2019, the end of eMarketer’s study, proximity payments in the US alone will reach around $210.45. These numbers are growing so quickly that they will actually out pace and exceed transaction numbers for retail mcommerce (mobile commerce).
In 2019 just $149.79 billion is expected to be spent on mcommerce, compared to the $210.45 predicted to be spent through proximity payment. For those unfamiliar, mcommerce is anything ordered through an app or website on your phone, which is then delivered at a later date. Mcommerce sales estimates provided by eMarketer do not include mobile travel sales, which could exceed $94.8 billion by 2019; if combined with mcommerce sales for the year, this amount to $244.59 billion.
Retail mcommerce could exceed proximity mobile payments
So if mobile travel sales are included, retail mcommerce sales are technically a larger value than proximity mobile payments for 2019. However, nobody’s including mobile travel sales around here and it’s looking like proximity payments could take over the world. “By 2019, eMarketer expects that slightly less than 10% of total retail sales in the US will come from ecommerce and just 2.7% of total retail sales will come from mcommerce,” eMarketer.
So get comfortable swiping your phone at the register, it’s obviously the wave of the future.
