Mobile payments are big in China. According to market research firm eMarketer, the region represents the world’s biggest and fastest-growing mPayment market, reports Mobile World Live.
eMarketer says that the number of mPayment customers in China doubled last year and forecasts that it will reach about a quarter of the country’s population this year, at over 195 million users. Looking further ahead, the firm predicts that by the year 2020, almost half of all smartphone users in the country will be mPayment consumers.
There were already strong indications of the country’s enthusiasm for mobile payments earlier this year when Apple Pay made its China debut in February. Ahead of the launch, many industry watchers were skeptical given the market saturation of domestic mPayment options, but Apple Pay proved to be a hit, suggesting a bigger appetite than many had expected. It’s also worth noting that China gets its own region-specific Mobile World Congress event, which is taking place this week. An Americas-focused MWC, meanwhile, won’t materialize until next year. (eMarketer predicts 37.5 million mPayment users in the US for 2016—a little under 12 percent of that country’s population.)
Clearly, China is at the forefront of the mPayment expansion, and could help to propel the global market in the months and years to come.
Source: Mobile World Live
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