Mobile payments are near universal across use cases in China, thanks to high mobile penetration and the rise of a wallet duopoly that’s made them accessible, affordable, and convenient.

Proximity and peer-to-peer mobile payments are on the rise in the UK, thanks to high user adoption of mobile and banking. However, growth is slow, which means that wallet providers looking to crack the market will need to get creative.

Canadian mobile penetration and bank access have created a high-potential environment for both proximity and peer-to-peer mobile payments. But entrenched payment habits and monopolization have created a slow growth environment that will force providers to adapt.

China’s efforts to roll out a CBDC could create more competition for mobile payment giants like Ant and Tencent, which are already under serious regulatory scrutiny.

Related content: To read more on Apple Pay’s challenges and other factors affecting its business, check out the Proximity Mobile Wallets portion of the “US Mobile Payments Forecast 2021” report.

The number of P2P mobile payment users will more than double from 20.5 million (representing 36.7% of Gen Z mobile phone users) in 2021 to 41.1 million (representing 60.7%) by 2025. PayPal was the top payment app for all generations, including Gen Z (Logica Research). Gen Z is particularly fond of mobile payments.

Mobile payments have proven their value during the pandemic as a way to limit our risk to exposure instead of paying with cash or card. Last year, per our estimates, smartphone usage in the US surged to an average of 182 minutes daily (from 154 minutes pre-pandemic), which extended to payments.

Enabling cryptos into products like Apple Pay and Apple Card could open up monetization and engagement opportunities.