Mobile payment market tipped to hit$780B in 2017

The value of the global mobile payment market is set to
increase by over 25 per cent in the next year, analyst
forecasts said.

Technology-focused analyst firm TrendForce estimated
the value of the mobile payments industry will reach
$780 billion in 2017, a 25.8 per cent increase on the
value in 2016. The boost is attributed to continued

intense competition between major smartphone and OS
vendors to develop their ecosystems, and the increased
availability of NFC chips and related security
infrastructure.

The Taiwan-based research firm cited the impact of
Chinese smartphone brands adding NFC chips to a
growing number of handsets as one factor for the rise.
It predicted over 60 per cent of smartphones shipped
worldwide this year will feature NFC silicon.

TrendForce senior research manager Kelly Hsieh said:
“Since Android has over 50 per cent of the mobile OS
market share worldwide, Google has an opportunity to
build up an extensive mobile payment ecosystem.

Google has recently accelerated the international
expansion of its digital wallet platform Android Pay and
made a big step forward this December by announcing
[a] partnership with major Japanese e-commerce and
internet company Rakuten.”

Hsieh believes the development of mobile payment
multi-factor authentication techniques, which
combine elements including fingerprint, iris and vein
recognition technology, in addition to existing security
protocols, will also help to drive adoption.

US-focused research company Research and Markets
also released its five year forecast for the mobile wallet
market at the turn of the year, estimating a compound
annual growth rate of 35.5 per cent between 2017
and 2021.