The multitrillion dollar payments market is changing rapidly, providing growth for companies, convenience for consumers and opportunities for investors. As digital payments gain penetration, driven by greater e-commerce and mobile usage, how should investors be positioned?
Global Digital Transactions
- Digital payments comprise digital commerce, i.e., buying goods or services via the internet, and mobile payments, i.e., smartphones used to process transactions using wireless communication or scan QR barcodes. Both operations are expected to proliferate over the next few years, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 16.5% through 2024.
- Currently China has the largest volume of digital payments and its lead is expected to widen, driven by mobile payments. Already, mobile payments have penetrated 28% of the market in China compared to only 13% in the U.S.
- We believe this trend will grow beyond the next few years because of its ease and convenience. Companies that may potentially capitalize on digital payments include payment networks such as Visa or Mastercard, payment processors, the businesses that help complete each transaction on the back-end, hardware companies that make the devices or chips to facilitate digital transactions, and software companies that create the interfaces to accept payments
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