That comes out to 40 million Americans, according to Parks Associates. The market research firm forecasts that this number will grow 183% to 113 million, or 43% of smartphone owners, by 2017.
One factor that will likely drive growth is an explosion in payments technologies coming onto the market, which will have broader application beyond payments, including mobile loyalty programs and in-store marketing. These will give a greater number of smartphone users and merchants a reason to start using and accepting mobile wallets.
In the past, analysis of mobile wallet adoption has focused on apps that use the NFC communication frequency. But some of the most used wallet apps use barcodes/QR codes instead of NFC — like the phenomenally successful Starbucks app.
Unlike NFC wallets, merchants that accept payments from these other kinds of apps can often upgrade their existing point-of-sale hardware rather than purchasing expensive new hardware. The lower costs will convince more merchants to adopt mobile payment technology, and this in turn will also make mobile wallets more attractive for consumers — because they’ll actually be able to use them to pay.
New technologies like Bluetooth LE also have the potential to drive mobile wallet adoption by improving the consumer and merchant experience. As we covered in a recent report, Bluetooth LE has a greater range than NFC wallets and can be used for hands-free payments and in-store marketing. (Parks Associates)
From the article, "PAYMENTS INSIGHTS: Two In Five Americans Will Use Mobile Wallets By 2017" by John Heggestuen.
