Get key insights from MEF’s 6th Global Smartphone User Survey – this week, looking at Mobile Payments (pre- Covid-19).

The world of mobile payments is showing three different clusters of activity.

• Developing economies are enjoying faster adoption (China 60%;India 46%; Brazil 38% and South Africa 36%).
• Most of Europe and Japan are left behind when it comes to paying via mobile with France (23%), Germany (27%), Spain (30%) and lowest of all Japan (24%).
• The UK and USA are outliers with a wider acceptance of mobile payments, both at 44%. Contactless mobile payment is a key driver in these markets.

Once a pioneer in technologies for cashless transactions, Japan is now lagging behind the world’s biggest economies when it comes to embracing electronic payments because most of the population still prefers physical money. India is the second largest market by penetration boosted by strong local mobile digital wallets: Paytm, Itzcash, Hike have all more than 100 million digital wallets each.

For more real-world insights, download the survey now