The 2018 Mobile Wallet Analytics study finds that the increasing popularity of smart devices has enabled rapid adoption of mobile wallets in Asia, with mobile wallets gradually replacing cash payments.
Some of the factors that determined the popularity are related to the availability of low-cost smartphones, rising Internet penetration, growing awareness of mobile payments and the proliferation of mobile wallets. The trend has not been seen in Western countries despite widespread smartphone and tablet adoption due to the fact that card-based payments are familiar and there is no real reason or urgency to adopt mobile payments, the study further shows.
Moreover, QR code payments, which avoid the higher charges associated with card payments and remove the need to set up point of sale terminals, have come to dominate in Asia Pacific. The low cost of accepting these payments and the high customer penetration of wallets such as Alipay and Paytm have driven merchants to adopt this form of payment instead of investing in card acceptance devices. For instance, the merchant service fee on QR code payments in India is around 0.3%, lower than the 1.8% average fee on credit cards.
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