More than four in ten UK consumers now make in-person and ecommerce purchases from their mobile device on a weekly basis (43%), making mobile payments “the predominant form of payment” in the country with mobile commerce transaction values predicted to reach £100m (US$112m) by 2024, according to research published by payment services provider Rapyd.
The research also shows that 29% of UK consumers now use Apple Pay — “the highest observed [usage] in Europe” — and 16% say Apple Pay is their preferred method for making in-person payments compared with 16% who say credit card and 12% who say cash.
Nearly half of UK consumers have also used their mobile device to make an ecommerce payment in the last 90 days (49%) rather than a laptop (47%), most commonly for clothing, restaurant meals, groceries and utility bills, according to the research.
“With consumers having to go cashless in the height of the pandemic, many realised how convenient mobile phone payments are and have since kept this habit up,” Rapyd’s Sarel Tal says.
“Our findings show that mobile payments are not only here to stay but are now the preferred payment method for a variety of ecommerce purchases, from getting takeaway delivered to paying bills.
“Furthermore, we expect this trend to accelerate, with UK mobile commerce predicted to grow at more than twice the rate of the overall ecommerce sector — reaching £100m by 2024.”
The data was produced from an online survey of 510 UK respondents conducted in April 2022.
Nearly half of UK consumers now make mobile payments every week was written by Tom Phillips and published by NFCW.