Mobile payments are getting more and more popular and all the major tech players are vying hard to carve out a niche for themselves
According to a report released by Gartner, 141.1 million people around the globe are expected to make use of this feature in 2011, up 38.2 percent from last year. The dollar volume of mobile payments is expected to make even better jump. The report claims that mobile wallet is likely to register $86.1 billion worth of transactions in 2011. This would entail 75.9 percent jump from the last year, when mobile payments worth $48.9 billion were registered.
However, mobile payment still has a long way to go. The report says that even in the developed countries, NFC is going to take at least four more years to reach its peak point. Things are expected to take even longer time in developing countries. Though some of the markets such as Philippines and Kenya are showing good signals. The biggest impediment in the way of mobile payment is the consumer attitude. People are still wary of mobile payments and prefer to make payments via credit card or cash.
The report has attributed the success of mobile payment system to the advent of inline stores such as Amazon and Apple's App Store. Though Apple iPhone currently does not support mobile payments, but it is rumored that Apple is soon planning to add a new technology to its phone for enabling mobile payments.