Brett King: In 2025, 55% of all retail payments will be with mobile wallets, 30% with plastic cards, 10% with cash

By 2025, 55 percent of all retail payments would occur through mobile wallets, while plastic cards and cash would represent 30 percent and 10 percent, respectively. At the second annual Doing Digital Forum in Yerevan, Brett King, a renowned futurist and author acclaimed for his innovative concepts in banking, shared insights into the evolving landscape of retail payments, emphasizing the growing prominence of mobile wallets.

King highlighted Brazil's PicsPay as the world's fastest-growing payment network, with nearly the entire adult population of Brazil already utilizing it for transactions. King anticipated PicsPay's market share to reach 60 percent by 2026, illustrating the rapid adoption of digital payment solutions.

Furthermore, King discussed the transformative impact of real-time payment systems, citing India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as an example. He predicted that by 2027, 80 percent of all retail payments in India would be facilitated through the UPI system. Similarly, China's dominance in mobile payments was underscored, with 92 percent of all transactions in the country conducted via mobile platforms, signaling a global trend towards cashless economies.

King emphasized the superiority of mobile wallets over traditional banking methods, asserting that banks issuing debit cards were lagging behind. He emphasized the benefits of mobile wallets, such as transaction visibility, geotags, spending insights, and accessibility for large businesses.

Highlighting the success of Alipay in SME lending, King attributed its effectiveness to superior data analytics capabilities compared to traditional banks. He noted that while traditional banks require extensive financial statements to assess creditworthiness, mobile wallets already possess comprehensive data on users' financial behaviors, enabling faster and more accurate lending decisions.

Overall, King's remarks underscored the transformative potential of mobile wallets in reshaping the future of retail payments and highlighted the need for traditional financial institutions to adapt to changing consumer preferences and technological advancements.