2018 in Mobile Payments: More Predictions Arrive
Predicting 2018 in mobile payments is a difficult proposition. Sometimes things hit straight out of nowhere; who would have guessed the rise of bitcoin, just for starters? Other things are just continuations of everything we’ve already seen; technology tends to build on its past successes. A new set of predictions recently emerged, and it’s a safe bet many of you have made at least a few of these predictions yourself.
Word from Credit Angel’s Michael Brown features some familiar themes. China will continue to be a major player, and the sheer numbers that the Chinese market brings to the table helps ensure that mobile payments will go mainstream worldwide. They can’t not, really; with around three quarters of China’s online payments made through mobile, the rest of the world can ill afford to sit on the sidelines. Especially given the growing numbers of Chinese who are traveling said world and expect, not unreasonably, to be accommodated.
It’s not just the Chinese that will fuel growth here, as the rapid expansion of smartphones worldwide will likely get users interested in the notion that they need no longer carry cash. There’s also a clear reason for banks to get involved and push the product to their customers. Throw in the gains seen in developing markets like Africa and there’s a clear reason to push forward.
One point that may be new is that Credit Angel projects that mobile payments use will soar in 2018. While that’s a debatable point—we could have more growth at a slower pace, or see about what we did this year—the notion that all those previous factors together could ultimately spike use isn’t out of line.
Most of these predictions are sound enough, building on the last couple of years and assuming mostly more of the same only perhaps slightly more so. The notion that 2018 will be a big take-off year for mobile payments could be a bit of a stretch, given that we’ve seen regular if unremarkable use of mobile payments outside some hotspots like China and India.
Still, it’s clear mobile will gain at least some ground—losing isn’t likely to happen—and seeing what shape 2018 takes ultimately should be a sight worth watching.