Half of UK online transactions now made on a mobile device
Mobile devices in the UK now account for half of all online transactions
Mobile transactions continue to increase their share of the market, accounting for up to half of online transactions, according to a new report by global payments technology company Adyen.
The report, published in the Q3 edition (July-Sept) of its quarterly Mobile Payments Index, notes that mobile payments now account for over 30 % of all global online transactions, compared to 28.7 % in Q2 this year. The UK continued to be the leading market on the Adyen platform, with 46.9 % of online transactions taking place on mobile, up from 44.8 % last quarter. In other key markets, Spain and the Netherlands recorded 32 % of online payments on mobile, followed by the US with 27 %, Germany with 25 %, and France with 23 %.
In Europe, iDEAL, the Dutch online banking payment method led the way, with 49 % of payments made on mobile. For Open Invoice in Scandinavia, mobile represents 42 %, Bancontact/Mister Cash in Belgium makes up 38 %, and SEPA Direct Debit stands at 24 %.
Among Asian payment methods, the Index reveals that 47 % of payments made with the Japanese card JCB were made on a mobile device. With Chinese payment methods, 35 % of Alipay payments and 23 % of UnionPay payments were on mobile.
Of particular interest for those merchants operating in markets where PayPal is popular, such as the US and the UK, the Index found 40 % of PayPal transactions are currently being made on a mobile device.
“It is clear that optimising the payment flow for a smooth mobile checkout is crucial for businesses,” said Roelant Prins, chief commerce officer, Adyen. “As an example, more than one third of Alipay transactions processed by Adyen are on mobile, and customers such as Evernote and The Cambridge Satchel Company have reported immediate increases in conversion after offering mobile-optimised Alipay payment flow with Adyen.”
There are also changes in the platform that customers prefer to use. For the ninth straight quarter, smartphone transactions grew their share of mobile payments when compared to tablets. The current smartphone versus tablet share of mobile payments now stands at 66 % versus 34 %. This compares with 64 % versus 36 % in Q2 and 61.8 % versus 38.2 % in Q1.
Even among retailers who historically have seen a relatively high %age of online purchases come from tablets, the percentage of tablet purchases declined 2% quarter-over-quarter, and now represent only 3% more of total online purchases when compared to smartphones.
