About 1 trillion cashless transactions were recorded in 2020.
“Digital payments, such as those made with a mobile phone, buying a bus ticket via text message or using a QR code to pay for services were possible even before the pandemic. They’ve subsequently accelerated sharply because people have been avoiding using cash in physical stores and have turned more to e-commerce. That trend will continue during the next ten years and the financial industry will have to go through a significant transformation to keep up,” said Diana Coroaba, PwC Romania Partner, Financial Services Leader.
Asia-Pacific will grow fastest, with cashless transaction volume growing by 109% until 2025 and then by 76% percent from 2025 to 2030, followed by Africa (78%, 64%) and Europe (64%, 39%). Latin America comes next (52%, 48%), with the US and Canada growing least rapidly (43%, 35%).
According to PwC’s global survey of banking, fintech and payment organizations, nine in ten respondents agreed that the shift towards e-commerce would continue to increase, thus requiring significant investment in online payment solutions. Moreover, 97% agreed there will be a shift towards more real-time payments.
A report by FIS, a financial services technology group, predicts that digital wallets will account for more than half of all e-commerce payments worldwide by 2024, as consumers shift from card-based to account- and QR code-based transactions.
Looking ahead, 86% of our survey respondents agreed with the prediction that traditional payment providers will collaborate with fintechs and technology providers for innovation.