This week, Frost & Sullivan released new analysis regarding the Asia-Pacific mobile commerce market, projecting a healthy rate of growth over the medium term. The market earned USD 76.17 billion in 2013 and Frost & Sullivan expects that figure to grow to USD 157.26 billion in 2017.
The market growth seems to stem from an imbalance between banking penetration rates and mobile penetration rates. According to the firm, in Asia-Pacific, particularly in the rural and suburban areas, banking penetration is low, while some countries have a mobile penetration rate exceeding 100 percent. Because of this discrepancy opportunities have emerged for mobile operators to partner with banks. The result: new models for transactions enabled by smartphone proliferation.
“Mobile operators could offer new services in conjunction with app developers and merchants to make relevant information available to consumers and thereby, capture valuable opportunities at the right time,” says Serene Chan, Frost & Sullivan ICT Senior Industry Analyst. “Acknowledging the need for convergence, mobile operators and banking institutions are adopting a collaborative mobile payment model to achieve compatibility across platforms and devices for mass market adoption.”
Ingredients for growth aside, interoperability is still an obstacle in mCommerce. According to Frost & Sullivan, mobile payment currently lacks the interoperability of conventional payment modes. At this point, there is no single mobile payment application that is common to all points of sale, and until the many functions are converged through a single platform, the firm says that cash will continue to dominate in the micropayment arena.
Mobility offers more than convenience and accessibility when consumer relationships are concerned. Chan acknowledges that mobile marketing will help encourage adoption.
She says, “Incorporating pre-sales marketing and after-purchase activities into the value chain process will also go a long way in changing consumers’ existing payment habits.”
Currently, Mobile ID Word and our sister site, findBIOMETRICS, are examining next generation commerce in preparation for Biometrics UnPulgged this September in Tampa, Florida. In a recent interview with Mobile ID World, BIO-key International’s Jay Meier shed some light on the difference between mobile banking and mobile payments: an important distinction when discussing the future of mCommerce.
Follow Us