Report: Korea expects boom in contacless m-payments
04 October, 2010
category: NFC
Celent has released a report predicting a surge in mobile contactless payment usage in South Korea, according to Finextra.
Celent says the country will see its contactless m-payments market skyrocket within the next few years at compound annual growth rate of more than 50%.
Furthermore, Celent predicts that the number of pre-paid contactless payment customers in South Korea will reach 4.5 million by 2012, resulting in transactions of up to 180 million and representing an overall value of $140 million, says Finextra.
KyongSun Kong of Celent Asian Financial Services Group, comments: “The prospects for growth are bright, but there are obstacles that must be overcome and potential pitfalls that must be avoided.”
These obstacles include a lack of contactless terminals, a need for greater NFC-enabled handset penetration and more service offerings to differentiate from traditional cards, according to Finextra.
“While the country has yet to clear these hurdles to growth, 2010 has seen a number of new services announced,” continues Kong, “and it is clear that the mobile contactless payments market is continuing to evolve.”
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