The European mobile payments market will almost triple over the next five years, increasing from $52 billion at the end of 2015 to $148 billion by 2021, a new report predicts.

Forrester’s Mobile Payments Forecast 2016-2021 report describes the three types of mobile payments: mobile in-person payments; mobile remote payments, such as purchasing via an app when the consumer is not physically present with the seller; and person-to-person payments.

Mobile in-person payments are expected to grow the fastest over the course of the next five years, accounting for nearly 16 per cent of all mobile payments in Europe by 2021. The launch of European mobile payment platforms, such as BNP Paribas’ Wa! in France and PayPal’s collaboration with Vodafone in Italy, coupled with the market entry from Apple, Google and Samsung, has led to greater consumer awareness of mobile in-person payments.

The wide availability and uptake of contactless payments across Europe mean consumers are ready to adopt mobile payments according to the report, although their payment habits remain a hurdle to overcome. With device-based authorisation, such as entering a passcode or using Apple’s TouchID, users can now bypass contactless transaction limits, driving forward the adoption of the technology.

Forrester expects mobile remote payments to remain the largest mobile payment segment by a substantial margin, maintaining its 66 per cent hold on total mobile payments in 2021.

In-app payment buttons and online checkout buttons enable easy purchasing, without the need to enter payment details or delivery and billing options. As a result, retailers are seeing the benefits of increased checkout conversions and are integrating more payment options into their apps and mobile-friendly websites.

Peer-to-peer payments is also forecast to continue steady growth over the next five years, with 17 per cent of total mobile payments expected to be completed this way by 2021.

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