Juniper Research has released a new report that predicts that there will be more than 161 million contactless Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals in use by 2024, more than doubling the total number of such terminals in 2019. There are currently around 78 million contactless POS terminals in circulation.

POS terminals without contactless capabilities will be rapidly phased out during that period. The overwhelming majority (94 percent) of all POS terminals will be contactless terminals at the end of the forecast window.

Juniper credited the trend to the expansion of contactless tech in the US and in emerging markets. More and more people are opting for mobile payments or contactless cards instead of cash, which will drive the value of the average contactless transaction from less than $19 in 2019 to more than $23 five years later.   

The study also indicates that biometric payment terminals will become far more widespread, especially in India and China. Thanks largely to those two countries, the total value of the transactions made with biometric terminals will climb from $84 million to $254 million by 2024.

“In India, biometric identity schemes are bringing the unbanked into the financial system,” explained research author Susannah Hampton. “It also has disruptive possibilities in developed regions, where biometric data is already being used in smartphones and identity documents.”

Based on the study, Juniper argues that hardware manufacturers should try to reduce the cost of POS terminals and find ways to raise the contactless transaction limit to encourage the adoption of the technology. The firm also advises them to invest in biometric capabilities.

The findings echo another recent Juniper report, which projected major growth in the world of mobile biometric payments and suggested that biometric authentication will soon be used to clear $2.5 trillion in transactions. Juniper has previously predicted that Latin America will soon become a hotbed for the Mobile Financial Services market.