The number of mobile wallets in use will grow 311% from 2020 to almost 440 million by 2025 across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, reflecting an e-commerce boom, according to a global study on the industry, which was published on Thursday in partnership with Juniper Research Ltd. The usage in Latin America is set to expand 166% during the same period, while that in Africa and Middle East will grow 147%.
The study found there are two distinct types of mobile wallets in the world. One is card-based mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, which are more popular in developed markets. The other is stored value mobile wallets like China’s AliPay and Grab Holding Inc’s GrabPay, popular in emerging markets where credit-card usage is lower.