Annual Digital Payments May Hit $4.7 Trillion By 2019

The annual transaction value of online, mobile and contactless payments may reach $4.7 trillion (£2.7 trillion) by 2019, claims new research.

Market research firm Juniper Research released the report, adding that this year, digital payments are worth $2.5 trillion (£1.47 trillion).

Digital Payment Strategies: Online, Mobile and Contactless 2014-2019 is a compilation of information relating to these types of payments and an analysis of trends.

The document claims that the largest net increase in spend will occur through remote physical goods purchases.

It also says that there has been a “dramatic surge” in activity in emerging markets, including China, where 20% of B2C (business to consumer) and C2C (consumer to consumer) eRetail spend globally in 2013 coming via online retailer Alibaba.

The report also observes an increase in purchasing on tablets and mobile – with a “significant” portion of these sales representing a migration away from desktops and laptops.

It claims this contributes to organic growth in overall digital transaction levels, but for the first time this year, mobile sales will overtake desktop and laptop sales.

Cards Still Beat Mobile For Contactless Payment

As well as observing devices and methods used for transactions, the report also claims that contactless activity will be driven by card purchases rather than mobile.

“While we are now seeing contactless transactions scaling up in markets such as Australia, Poland and the UK, almost all current consumer usage is via the card,” claimed Dr Windsor Holden, the report’s author.

“However, with banks increasingly attracted to an NFC model in which they have full control of the customer, then we may well see some high-profile deployments in the medium term,” he added.

The document argues that mobile transactions will be boosted by HCE (Host Card Emulation)-based NFC (Near Field Communications) services.

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