These are the findings of the Global Payments Report released by payment processor WorldPay. The study predicts that in 2019, USD 647 billion of consumer payments to businesses will be made globally through digital or e-wallets, as compared to an estimated USD 577 billion through credit cards and USD 412 billion via debit cards.
Not long ago, e-wallets were invariably part of a retail giant, such as Alipay (Alibaba) and PayPal (eBay). But recently, the industry has witnessed bank and network wallets emerge, with Visa Checkout, MasterPass and ChasePay as the forerunners, according to the report. Other players - who are not, traditionally, in the payments field - have also entered the market. Driven by a need to create customer ‘stickiness’ by integrating their technology into their consumers’ everyday lives, multinationals such as Apple with Apple Pay, Samsung with Samsung Pay and Google with Android Pay are revolutionising the payments scene.
The research predicts that alternative payment methods (including e-wallets, direct debits and bank transfers) will account for 55% of ecommerce turnover by 2019. However, this is down on previous predictions made by the company, as delayed launches of key card scheme’s e-wallet initiatives which were expected in 2013 and UnionPay moving more slowly than anticipated in the Chinese ecommerce market are some of the main factors which have slowed down the growth.
In regards to the split between card and alternative payment methods by region, the WorldPay study indicates the following: in 2014, in North America, alternative payment methods accounted for just 28% of ecommerce turnover (versus 72% for cards), 49% in EMEA (versus 51% for cards), 58% in Asia Pacific (versus 42% for cards) and 25% in Latin America (versus 75% for cards).
WorldPays Global Payments Report was based on research in 30 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Netherlands and Poland.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now