Global Digital Payments Market to Grow by 23.7% in 2024 to $4.9 Trillion

While it was already under way prior to the pandemic, the global shift to digital payments has been positively affected by the crisis.

According to the research data analyzed and published by Finnish website Sijoitusrahastot, it is among the fintech verticals reporting the highest growth in 2020. The report reveals that during the first half of the year, digital payments grew by 21% year-over-year (YoY) in terms of transaction volume.

Other verticals showing remarkable growth included digital custody (36%), digital asset exchange (33%), digital savings (26%) and WealthTech (24%).

According to Statista, the total transaction value in digital payments is projected to grow at 23.7% in 2020 to reach $4.93 trillion. The number of digital payment users is forecast to increase by 10.1% YoY to reach 3.47 billion in 2020.

In the period between 2020 and 2024, it is set to grow at a 13.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach $8.17 trillion by 2024.

Digital commerce is the market’s top segment, estimated to reach a total transaction value of $2.93 trillion in 2020. It will mark a growth rate of 4.8% YoY. In the period up to 2024, it is projected to grow at an 8.9% CAGR to reach $4.11 trillion. On average, the transaction value per user in digital commerce is estimated to total $843.0 in 2020.

China is expected to take the lead globally in digital payments overall as well as in digital commerce. In the former, the country is set to generate $2.31 trillion in 2020 while in the latter it is projected to rake in $1.17 trillion.

Asia’s Digital Payments Market to Reach $2.88 Trillion in 2020

For Asia as a whole, Statista forecasts that digital payments will reach $2.88 trillion in 2020. According to McKinsey, Asia has outpaced all regions globally with regard to payments revenue growth over the past few years.

As the top contributor to global payments revenue, it generated close to $900 billion in 2019. It was almost half the global total per McKinsey’s Global Payments Map.

Moreover, a report from Data Search Consulting offers higher figures, asserting that the digital payments industry in APAC generated $1.9 trillion in revenue in 2019. According to the source, China contributed two-thirds of this total.

Up until 2017, Europe had been the epicenter of digital payments globally with North America close behind. Based on data from Capgemini, Asia Pacific had a growth rate of 24.7% in digital payments between 2018 and 2019. In contrast, Europe grew at a 12.2% rate between 2018 and 2019 while North America grew at 5.6%. The global growth rate at the time was 14.1%.

In 2020, the market has experienced significant growth due to the rising number of digitally active consumers and a thriving eCommerce market. Over the three-month period leading up to November 2020, there was an increase of 20% in the number of digital users making contactless payments in Asia.

Based on the aforementioned Data Search Consulting report, the use of digital payments in Asia during COVID season grew by 2.5 times compared to pre-pandemic figures. Moreover, 75% of users in APAC say they plan to continue using digital payments even post-COVID.

APAC Mobile Payments to Grow by 13.9% to $277.5 Billion in 2020

Explaining the sheer dominance of the APAC region, Capgemini points to the dominance of mobile payments in the region.

In China specifically, 70% of consumers make use of mobile wallets on a regular basis according to Finextra. In 2020, it is estimated that 80% of global mobile wallet revenues will come from this country.

South Korea is also a top contender in the race and is predicted that by 2022, it will have made it to the top three cashless countries globally. Over half of the 1,600 bank branches in the country no longer support cast deposits or withdrawals.

It is estimated that in 2020, mobile payments in APAC will reach $277.5 billion. Comparatively, the figure will be $229.1 billion in Europe and $184.8 billion in North America.

For APAC, that translates to a growth rate of 13.9% YoY, compared to 6.2% for Europe and 3.0% for North America.

Over the coming years, mobile payments are expected to dominate the digital payments ecosystem. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11% between 2019 and 2023.

Though contactless cards are the popular option in 2020, QR-code payment options and digital wallets are in the pipeline. These are set to bring mobile payments to the fore.