FIS: Global Payments Report 2021

FIS released its 2021 Global Payments Report, with key insights including:

Digital wallets boom as e-commerce takes off

Global e-commerce growth accelerated in 2020, with transaction volume reaching US$4.6 trillion, an increase of 19% over 2019.

Digital wallets accounted for 44.5% of e-commerce transactions in 2020, up 6.5% from 2019. Chinese consumers lead in digital wallets, accounting for 72.1% of e-commerce transactions. The United States lags behind the global average in digital/mobile wallet penetration, with digital wallets accounting for 29.8% of e-commerce transactions alone, up 23.7% from 2019.

Digital wallets are expected to account for 51.7% of global e-commerce payments by 2024, with credit cards (20.8%) and debit cards (12%) seeing their shares decline slightly.

As POS shrinks, cash retreats

Points of sale have felt the impact of the coronavirus most directly, with global transaction volumes falling 4.4% in 2020 compared to 2019. Global economic recovery is expected to occur within 18-24 months. Global transaction volume growth will reach 6.5% in 2022, and then increase by 3.3% and 3.5% in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the decline of cash by more than three years, exceeding 2020 forecasts. In 2020, cash accounted for 20.5% of global point-of-sale transactions, down 32.1% from 2019.

Mobile wallets filled the void left by cash, growing 19.5% from 2019 and accounting for 25.7% of point-of-sale transactions in 2020.

In Europe, Latin America and North America, credit cards (22.4%) and debit cards (22.3%) account for the majority of point-of-sale payments, while usage is relatively low in Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa.

Looking ahead to 2024, cash usage is expected to fall a further 38% from 2020, accounting for only 12.7% of global point-of-sale transactions.

Mobile wallets are expected to increase by another 30% by 2024 compared to 2020, accounting for 33.4% of global point-of-sale transactions.

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