Mobile wallets such as Apple Pay are overtaking cash across the globe, with millions of people choosing them as an appealing method of managing money in both consumer and business segments. 

According to data gathered by BuyShares, the global mobile wallets industry is set to jump almost 50% amid the COVID-19 outbreak, reaching US$1.47 trillion in value this year.

Mobile wallets wiped out the need for carrying money while reducing the chances of theft or losing currency. These conveniences become incredibly popular among tech-savvy consumers, for both in-store and online payments, according to BuyShares.

In 2017, the global mobile wallets market was worth $405 billion, according to a Statista survey. Before the coronavirus outbreak, this value was expected to jump over $1trn in 2020. Nevertheless, new Statista data showed that the entire mobile POS payments segment is expected to hit $1.47 trillion value this year, growing by a $38.7 year-on-year.

The dominant upward trend is set to continue in the next twelve months, with the total transaction value jumping over $2 trillion in 2021. Statistics indicate this amount is forecast to double in the next four years, reaching $4.1 trillion by 2024.

The last few months have also witnessed an increase in the average transaction value per user in the mobile point of sale payments segment. Before the coronavirus outbreak, this amount was forecast to reach $791.2 in 2020. However, the recent statistics indicate a 62% increase compared to the previous data, with the average transaction value reaching $1,263.4 value this year. In the next four years, this amount is expected to continue rising and reach $2,380 value, according to BuyShares. Recent years have also witnessed a surge in the number of people choosing mobile wallets to manage their payments. In 2017, 824 million people all around the world had been using this method of making payments.

The Statista data revealed the number of users is set to jump over 1.17 billion in 2020, growing by 29.6% year-on-year. Millennials and Gen Z members represent the major user groups, with 37% and 25% share, respectively. In the next four years, the number of people using mobile wallets is expected to hit over 1.7 billion worldwide.