2010 to see 54 per cent jump in mobile payment users

Mobile payments proving particularly popular in Asia-Pacific, says Gartner

The number of mobile payment users is on target to hit 108 million by 2011

Analyst firm Gartner said today that the number of mobile payment users will exceed 108.6 million in 2010, a 54.5 per cent increase from 2009, when there were 70.2 million users.

However, this still amounts to just 2.1 per cent of all mobile users.

SMS is the dominant mobile payment technology globally, owing to the fact that it is easy to use and supported by most mobile devices.

Gartner research director Sandy Shen said that there is strong demand for mobile payment coming from developing markets because many people in these countries do not use traditional banks.

The Asia-Pacific region will have nearly 63 million users making payments via mobile devices by the end of 2010, predicted Gartner, while in Western Europe the figure will be just over seven million.

"Many mobile users from the developing world do not have easy access to banking or a PC, which means that mobile is the natural payment platform for them," added Shen.