In 2016, 38.4 million Americans of 14 age and over will have used their mobile phones to pay at the point-of-sale at least once in the past six months. That’s just 19.4% of US smartphone users. By 2020, that figure will grow to 33.1% of smartphone users.
Proximity mobile payment users in the US skew young, with 11.9 million in the 25-to-34 age group in 2016—31.1% of the total. By 2020, this group will exceed 21 million, though its share will decrease to 27.8% as older consumers start paying at the point-of-sale with their phones. In 2017, close to 55% of all US proximity mobile payment users will be under 35, and more than three-quarters will be under 45.
Moreover, by the end of 2016, 46 million US adults—nearly one-quarter of US adult smartphone users—will use a P2P payment app at least once per month. That figure will exceed one-third by 2018. Thus, the value of P2P mobile phone transactions will total USD 59.42 billion in 2016, with that figure growing to USD 92.10 billion by 2017.
According to eMarketer, there are several reasons why US consumers aren’t yet making proximity payments en masse, however, some of them include concerns about security, a patchwork of merchant acceptance, and a lack of perceived value in replacing the use of cash or card with the tap or scan of a smartphone.
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