According to a recent study entitled Mobile Wallets: Contactless & Remote Payments 2015-2020, from Juniper Research, while historic growth of mobile wallet usage was driven by person-to-person (P2P) services for the unbanked in developing markets, the launch of Apple Pay has prompted a hive of activity in the contactless arena. It argued that with public awareness of contactless heightened in the wake of Apple’s launch, competing services such as Samsung Pay and the forthcoming Android Pay would no longer need to seed the market.
Additionally, the research found that a number of banks were partnering with Visa or MasterCard to implement own-brand contactless wallets using a cloud-based secure element.
However, the research observed that the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) consortium had postponed the launch of its own contactless service, with several retailer partners now abandoning their ‘closed shop’ stance towards Apple Pay. Furthermore, the consortium has not agreed terms with any leading card holders, citing the high transaction fees as a stumbling block.
Other findings include the fact that wallets run by mobile operator consortia continue to fare badly, with the UK’s Weve dropping its planned wallet, and Softcard folding in the US. Moreover, in developing markets, there has been a significant upscaling of wallet usage for savings and loan disbursements, while more than 100 million are now in use for micro-insurance.
Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.
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