The total value spend of NFC mobile payments will rise from USD 4 billion in 2012 to USD 191 billion in 2017, breaking the USD 100 billion mark in 2016, according to a study by ABI Research. The report also forecasts that mobile payments and the convergence between payment types – proximity, P2P and online – stored on a single NFC handset will be the initial trigger driving market convergence across a host of other markets, including ticketing, retail, loyalty, and access control.
Market convergence is at least two years away from reality. Report authors believe transportation and ticketing will be the first market to benefit from convergence, with 26 percent of all NFC handsets forecast to house a contactless ticketing application in 2017. Transport authorities will have the ability to offer additional added value services, including route planners, delay bulletins, time tables, as well as retail and loyalty, or advertising applications offering own brand or partnering/local business a platform to offer additional solutions to generate new revenue streams.
