Global Insights
THE MOBILE PAYMENTS READINESS INDEX:A GLOBAL MARKET ASSESSMENT
While it’s early days for the adoption of mobile payments globally, some markets are making progress toward attaining the right mix of market forces and consumer acceptance.
That’s among the top-level findings of the
MasterCard Mobile Payments Readiness Index (MPRI), a rigorous, data-driven survey of the global mobile payments landscape. Using public and proprietary data, as well as original market research, the survey gauges the preparedness and receptivity of 34 countries for mobile payments of three varieties—person to person (P2P), mobile e-commerce (m-commerce), and mobile payments at the point of sale (POS).
On a scale of zero to 100, the 34 countries achieved an average mobile readiness score of 33.2. No market reached a score of 50—indicating there is still work to be done before mobile payments become mainstream. Other top-level findings include:
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No two global markets are identical; each is driven by local conditions of environment,
infrastructure, regulation, and financial services.
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In the vast majority of markets, more consumers are currently using mobile payments
for m-commerce than for person-to-person or point-of-sale transactions.
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Consumers are typically drawn to mobile payments either for access to electronic payments
(mainly in developing economies) or the convenience of mobile phone payments (in the
developed world).
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Conditions on the ground, such as a stable telco network, established financial services, and
progressive regulation, do not ensure consumer readiness—the one essential variable—in any
given market.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MasterCard believes that a score of 60 on the MPRI will indicate that a market has reached the inflection point—the stage at which mobile devices account for an appreciable share of the payments mix. The most advanced market in the Index, Singapore, attained a score of 45.6.
To be ready for mobile payments, markets need to achieve a balance of high scores across
the six components that comprise the Index: Environment (economy and scale), Infrastructure (telecommunications and technology), Regulation, Financial Services, Consumer Readiness, and Mobile Commerce Clusters (the degree of integration and partnering among banks, telcos, and the government).
Some global markets lead in certain components, while falling behind in others. A close reading of the findings reveals that most markets are still capable of being molded in the interests of consumers looking for convenience, security, and financial inclusion.
