Mobile Wallet Market Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 30.7 Percent by 2018

The wallet has been part of civilization for millennia, and as the forms of currency we use have gotten smaller, it has also been shrinking in size. At the rate we are going, cash will be obsolete, and so will the traditional wallet as everything we need will be stored in one small device containing all our credit cards, digital currency, IDs and more. A new report published by Transparency Market Research titled, “Mobile Wallet Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth and Forecast 2012 – 2018” provides an overview of the growth factors and future prospects of the technology.

According to the report, the industry is going to be experiencing rapid growth with the market generating revenue of $1,602.4 billion by 2018, a CAGR growth of 30.7 percent for the period. The penetration of smartphones is one of the biggest drivers for this technology, as most mobile wallets require the device to function, although that is not always the case.

The growth is also going to be determined by industry participants, components, consumer type, functionality, and geography. While the technology is very functional, the adoption rate has been very low, especially in the United States. The report predicts the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) will be the largest market for the mobile wallet industry in 2018 followed by the Asia-Pacific region.

Both of these regions have many developing countries with limited or non-existing banking infrastructure in many areas, and governments are implementing mobile commerce technology in order to provide citizens with a wide range of financial services.

By doing away with traditional payment channels such as cash, checks, or credit cards, mobile wallets are getting more popular not only in developing countries, but everywhere. However, the report has pointed out the biggest hurdle the technology faces is security, which is inhibiting customer acceptance and limiting growth.

The technology needs the participation of MNOs (Mobile Network Operators), financial institutions, payment networks, intermediaries, merchants, and consumers. Without the proper integration of these industries and their willingness to participate in this new payment platform, the success of mobile wallets will be limited.

PayPal (News - Alert) is the biggest player with around 50 percent of the mobile wallet market, with Google Wallet contributing a third followed by Amazon Payments, V.me, ISIS, LevelUp, Passbook, and others making up the rest.