Although mobile POS payments have become widely adopted among tech-savvy consumers worldwide, no country comes even close to China – the world’s largest mobile payments market.
In 2024, almost 570-million Chinese will use mobile wallets for POS payments – twice the combined number of Americans and Europeans. This will generate an impressive $1,72-trillion in transaction value and account for 45% of the world’s total. This dominance is only set to grow in the coming years, according to Stocklytics.com, which adds that the total transaction value in the Chinese mobile POS payments segment is expected to jump by 40% and hit $2,4-trillion by 2028 – one-third of the world`s total.
The rapid growth of mobile POS payments in China can be attributed to the continuous innovation and advanced technology from fintech giants Alipay and WeChat Pay, coupled with strong regulatory oversight, which turned them into a cornerstone of China’s digital economy.
Today, mobile payments are the number one choice for hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers and merchants – from street vendors to high-end retail stores – with even rural areas adopting them to bypass traditional banking infrastructure. This surge in the use of mobile wallets has turned China into the world’s mobile POS payments leader with no other country or region standing even close.
According to a Statista survey, the total transaction value in the Chinese mobile POS payments segment will hit $1,72-trillion in 2024, 20% more than the US and European markets combined. The US market is forecast to hit $787-billion in transaction value, and Europe follows with $645-billion. Although the gap between the Chinese, US, and European markets will narrow in the following years, China will remain the mobile POS payment superpower.
Statista expects the Chinese mobile POS payments segment to increase by 40% and hit a $2,42-trillion value by 2028. Although the US market will see practically twice as high growth in this period, it will still generate a 40% lower transaction value of $1,45-trillion. The European market follows with a 73% growth rate and $1,12-trillion of mobile POS payments in the next four years.
Statistics also show China will account for 40% of all mobile POS payments in 2028, compared to the US’s 23% and Europe’s 18% share.
Although the US and European mobile POS payment markets will see significant user growth in coming years – rising by 40% and 20% by 2028 respectively – their user bases will remain incomparable to that of the world’s leading mobile POS payments industry.
According to Statista, nearly 620-million Chinese will use mobile POS payments in 2028 – only 8% more than this year, but still 2,2-times the combined number of Americans and Europeans. The US market will have 101-million users in 2028, up from 72-million this year; while the number of Europeans using mobile wallets for POS payments will jump from 148-million to 176-million.