Study: half the world’s population will adopt mobile wallets by 2024

Merchant Machine’s findings show the global pandemic propelled the popularity of digital wallets and researchers expect the numbers to grow from 44.50% of the population in 2020 to 51.70% by 2024.

The researchers note that since 2015, the total revenue generated by mobile wallet applications has tripled, and by 2022, it’s expected to be around $1,639.5 trillion.

“The safety, security, and convenience of digital wallets, as well as the popularity of smartphones and general digitalisation of society, were among the main reasons for the popularity of this method,” Merchant Machine’s study details.

Alipay is the most used mobile wallet worldwide, with over 650 million active users. Wechat is second with around 550 million users by 2022. Apple Pay (507M), Google Pay (421M), Paypal (377M), followed closely by Wechat and Alipay. While debit and credit cards dropped, cash on delivery, bank transfers, and card transactions all declined in popularity, mobile wallets such as buy now, pay later, Apple Pay (507M), GooglePay (421M), or Paypal (377M) increased their use.

“Besides mobile wallets, the only method of payment that will see an increase in popularity among consumers is buy now, pay later schemes such as Klarna or Clearpay,” the study notes. “These methods are particularly popular among Millennials and Generation Z users due to the possibility of splitting the cost into monthly installments.”

In terms of mobile wallet adoption, China ranked the highest percentage of digital or tap-to-pay contactless payments. China was followed by Denmark, India, South Korea, Sweden, the United States, and Canada.