Report: PayPal, Android Pay, Apple Pay & Starbucks Dialing Up Growth in $23 Billion Mobile Payments Market

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Feb 04, 2016, 09:15 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. market for mobile payments made at the retailer point of sale will increase to $23 billion in 2016, up 54% from 2015, according to market research publisher Packaged Facts in the brand-new report Mobile Payments in the U.S., 5th Edition.

Robust growth is projected through 2019 based on the almost certain continued movement toward smartphone usage saturation and an increase over time in the percentage of smartphone users making mobile payments at the point of sale. Presently the market is benefitting from activity involving a quartet of major industry players: PayPal, Android Pay, Apple Pay, and Starbucks. Significant payment usage via the Starbucks private label mobile app and the PayPal general-use digital wallet, in addition to growing usage traction for Apple Pay and Android Pay, are at the center of this thriving industry.

Backed by roughly 80 million U.S. account holders, Package Facts views PayPal as a U.S. e-commerce, P2P and mobile payment leader. The company leads with a payment agnostic, easy-to-navigate omni-channel mobile payments solution allowing users to access their accounts anytime, anywhere from any Internet connected device. Its mobile payment app runs across all major smartphone platforms, giving it strong device-based reach. Recent innovations include in-app payments, keeping mobile users within the app where they're making the payment instead of sending them to the PayPal site; OneTouch one-click mobile check-in; and a variety of mobile payment options, including photo/location-based mobile check-in, and QR code/PIN. In addition, by weaving social media into the mix, PayPal's Venmo P2P service has attracted a strong niche of Millennials to its application.

Invigorated by its purchase of wallet competitor Softcard and the launch of Android Pay, Google is poised to continue its gradual, upward mobile payments path. According to Packaged Facts' survey results, usage is neck and neck with Apple Pay, with 8% of smartphone users having used Android Pay at the cash register/actual sales location to pay for a transaction in the last 12 months, the percentage reported for Apple Pay.

In its own right, Apple Pay has helped reinvigorate mobile NFC payments, and within another three years Packaged Facts envisions it bringing mobile payments into the mainstream, on the backs of 70 million potential U.S. Apple Pay users. For now, globally, Apple has surpassed 1 billion active devices. By Packaged Facts estimates, almost 30% of U.S. adults have an iPhone, giving Apple Pay significant device-based reach. Apple Pay also blends mobile payments with features and benefits beyond payments.

While Apple Pay and other NFC-based solutions will likely gain steam, Starbucks QR code-based solution is today's runway success story. This is due in large part to its private label, retailer-exclusive approach (the mobile app need only be accepted at Starbucks), the brand's highly engaged base of frequent users, its relationship to the company's robust loyalty program, and its phone agnostic QR code authentication (virtually any smartphone will do). Very simple to use, it bridges omni-channel shopping and layers a plethora of added-value features and benefits into a strong loyalty/payments proposition.

"Smartphone saturation, a user base well above 30 million, a high degree of mobile engagement, and a large core of more frequent visits make Starbucks an ideal candidate for mobile payments—a position the company has leveraged extremely well. Plus, Starbucks' coffeehouse users skew younger and more affluent, demographics that are generally more likely to use and express interest in mobile connectivity and payments," notes David Sprinkle, research director, Packaged Facts.

Mobile Payments in the U.S., 5th Edition gives industry participants the insight they need to stay abreast of mobile payments trends, including mobile point-of-sale payments, mobile P2P and mobile commerce. To purchase the report or for more information, including the table of contents and abstract, visit: http://www.packagedfacts.com/redirect.asp?progid=88323&productid=9730936.

About Packaged Facts – Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer demographics and shopper insights, consumer financial products and services, consumer goods and retailing, consumer packaged goods, and pet products and services. Packaged Facts also offers a full range of custom research services. Reports can be purchased at www.PackagedFacts.com and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com.

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SOURCE Packaged Facts