Mobile transactions popularity is predicted to grow

According to the latest report of IMS Research users of contactless mobile payments, mobile banking and over the air (OTA) transactions is expected to reach 884 million in 2012. This is the overall number of users expected to adopt new technologies, platforms and services who are expected to complete 62 billion transactions between them in that year.

Mobile penetration in many developing markets is far higher than that of banking or fixed line infrastructure, meaning that mobile is often the only means of access available while in more developed markets where mobile is not just an alternative but personalised means of access. This year Orascom spoke about a "unique service" introduction into a number of markets. With this move it joins operators such as NTT DoCoMo, KTF, Vodafone, Globe, Smart, TIM, AT&T and Sprint amongst others, adding to the growing momentum around mobile financial services.

"The early seeds sown by a handful of companies have started to grow and now serious backing is being provided by both the financial and operator communities", Research Director John Devlin said. "Service growth to date is already strong and taking off across a number of markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. When coupled with the growing volume of rollouts and service launches in Europe and the Americas, the number of new users nearly tripled in 2007."

"What this demonstrates is that there is a fundamental need for people to securely access and process financial transactions", Devlin added. "Mobile is able to serve a multitude of demands across a variety of lifestyles, cultures and platforms. What is particularly interesting is the innovation being demonstrated in the use of existing technologies and tools, such as SMS, to deliver and enable these services ahead of incoming technologies such as NFC" he concluded.