Apple and Google to Bring Social Payments to the Masses

The new study from Juniper Research has found that the global number of registered mobile domestic money transfer users is expected to reach 2.5 bn this year, up from an estimated 1.7 bn in 2016.

This will be driven by social media apps such as WeChat, Facebook and others already witnessing a dramatic rise in service usage, alongside new services including Apple Pay Cash, and Zelle Pay; with leading mobile money services driving growth in emerging markets.

The new research, Digital Money Transfer and Remittances: Domestic and International Markets 2018-2022, forecasts that by 2018 the global share of domestic money transfer services, by mobile transaction values will be as follows:

• Domestic P2P: 65%
• Cash-In: 13%
• Cash-Out: 11%
• Bulk Disbursement (G2P): 8%
• Domestic Airtime Top-Up: 2%

For more insights, download our free whitepaper, Why 2018 Is The Year Of Social Payments.

Apple, Facebook, Google Bring Social Payments to the Masses

Juniper believes that 2018 will be the year for social payments with key rollouts from Apple, Google and Facebook expected to drive the much delayed social payments market, as a sub sector of the wider mobile P2P market.

“It was inevitable that players such as Apple would follow in the footsteps of WeChat Pay and AliPay, and offer a universal set of payment features integrating P2P, alongside existing contactless and ticketing functionalities,” noted research author Nitin Bhas.

Juniper predicts that the uptake for Apple Pay Cash will be slow in the short term due to a strong banking network in its launch markets. However, the total number of annual transactions for the service will approach 1 billion by 2020.

Mobile Money to Reach 1 Bn Registered Users by 2020

Meanwhile, users of mobile money services such as M-PESA, Orange Money, and MTN Money will exceed 1 bn registered users by 2020, driving financial inclusion for the unbanked in emerging markets. Operators are increasingly facilitating service interoperability, both at national and international level, thereby opening up the market for faster growth.

Juniper Research is acknowledged as the leading analyst house in the Fintech and Payments sector, delivering pioneering research into payments, banking and financial services for more than a decade.