Mobile payments 'growing drastically' / Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Purchases of goods made using mobile devices, contactless near-field communications (NFC) transactions and mobile money transfers will generate more than $600 billion (£340 billion) in revenue annually by 2013, it has been claimed.

According to analyst Juniper Research, the mobile payments market is currently dominated by transactions for digital goods such as ringtones, music and games.

However, Howard Wilcox, author of the report, explained that contactless NFC, mobile money transfer and physical good purchases via mobile will all offer major new opportunities for revenue potential in the future.

"We're forecasting that all segments of the market will see growth over the next five years, driven by both the rapid availability of exciting, easy to use services, and the continued growth in mobile subscriber penetration, particularly in developing countries," he said.

"As well as becoming multifunctional devices for many users, mobiles will become wallets that people won't leave the home or office without."

A recent trial of NFC technology by network operator O2 revealed that 90 per cent of people in Britain are happy to use their mobile phone as a payment device, while 78 per cent would be interested in using NFC services if they were rolled out.

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