MasterCard’s “PayPass Adoption Study” shows that within one year of their first contactless transaction, adopter accounts spent almost 30% more using their PayPass-enabled card. The study analyses the changes in U.S. account transactions after adopting contactless payment solutions using MasterCard transaction data. Furthermore the researchers found a clear correlation between contactless adoption and preference for a particular card.

MasterCard PayPass is a contactless payment method based on Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The service lets consumers make purchases by tapping a credit card or other payment device instead of swiping or inserting a card. “The research shows that even after cardholders use contactless only once, there is a clear halo effect. Contactless should be considered by any issuer seeking to capture share today while establishing a platform for the future migration to mobile commerce,” commented Mark Barnett, Group Executive, Consulting Services for MasterCard Advisors.

MasterCard PayPass Infographic

Infographic source

According to the latest “Mobile Payments in China” report from Kapronasia, a research and consulting company focusing on the financial industry in Asia, the Chinese mobile payment market will be worth more than $80 billion with 331 million active users by 2015.

Although China has already surpassed the U.S. as the biggest smartphone market, the penetration rate is still low (less than 10%), leaving a giant scale for growth. Zennon Kapron, managing director of Kapronasia believes that “2012 will prove to be a crucial year for the mobile payments industry as Chinese authorities establish final technology standards”. Kapronasia estimates that the mobile payment market in China will roughly double its size every year (estimated at $7.6 in 2011) and become the largest mobile payment market by 2015.

American Express has created a nice infographic (based on this study) on how US customers choose to pay for everyday things and how they feel about new forms of payment. Enjoy!

More than $2.3 billion of virtual goods were purchased in 2011 (up nearly 30% from 2009) in the U.S. according to PlaySpan’s latest study of virtual goods purchasing trends. According to the study, one in four consumers bought a virtual good in 2011, spending $64 on average. Not surprisingly, young males still dominate the business – almost 50% of males under 24 have purchased a virtual good in 2011. The survey has been conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates in early January of 2012.

Virtual goods are a booming business and have become a mainstream topic. Big brands have entered the market: Virtual goods monetization platform PlaySpan was acquired by credit card giant Visa last year. “Consumer acceptance of virtual goods represents a huge growth opportunity, not just for game publishers, but for all digital content companies,” commented Karl Mehta, founder of PlaySpan.

Check out PlaySpan’s Virtual Goods Trends Report:

Digital banking is set to overtake traditional branch networks as the main way customers interact with their bank by 2015 according to the report ‘The new digital tipping point’ by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The report reveals that there is a strong demand for digital banking products from consumers and the fact they are willing to pay up to $15/month for these. PwC interviewed over 3,000 banking customers globally in May and June 2011 for the study.

Although new technology is opening up banking to a number of new players, the survey reveals that the majority of respondents still trust their banks over other providers with their current account. According to PwC, banks may consider to partner with technology, mobile and other non-traditional banking providers to deliver the digital experience customers expect. Matt Hobbs, retail and commercial banking partner at PwC, commented: “The growth of digital has removed key barriers to market entry, including the need for large branch networks, customer inertia and brand trust. Because of this, banks need to consider strategic acquisitions or partnerships with digital innovators to secure their long-term position and market share.”

In-game purchases are expected to reach $4.8B in 2016 – up from $2.1B in 2011 – according to a study released by Juniper Research earlier this week. The “Downloads, In-Game Purchasing & Advertising Strategies 2011-2016” report reveals that the increasing acceptance of in-game purchases and the ever-growing number of smartphones will push the sales of in-game items within the next five years.

The number of developers that will adopt the freemium model rather than the pay-per-download model is expected to increase, especially in the social& casual game area. Free games are downloaded in greater volume and create a larger user base. Users will more likely spend money on in-game items when they already have spent some time playing the game instead of paying upfront for a game they haven’t tried out. Also users get more familiar with the freemium model and the percentage of gamers who actually purchase items is expected to increase.

“An increasing number of games developers are finding the in-game purchase model attractive simply because it provides easy answers. Their piracy rate will drop and the game will see more downloads. However, while some games may generate significant revenues from in-game items, the model doesn’t work with all games and developers have to tread a fine line between encouraging purchases and appearing to be exploitative,” said report author Charlotte Miller.

Digital marketing company Acquity Group has released an infographic illustrating the different forms of mobile payments such as smartphone card readers, NFC-based or SMS-based solutions.

According to Acquity, mobile payments are about to rise from $240 billion in 2012 to $670 billion in 2015.

Visa Europe has released its second Contactless Barometer report, a benchmark study looking at consumer attitudes to new payment methods. The study shows that consumers value the convenience and ease of contactless payments but also points out that the current relatively low acceptance levels in some markets is still preventing usage from becoming mainstream.

According to the study, 77% of contactless users agreed or strongly agreed that contactless technology would ultimately become more commonplace than cash as a payment method. 78% also agreed that contactless will be instrumental in bringing mobile contactless payments to market in the near future. Mark Austin, Head of Contactless for Visa Europe commented: “People with experience of contactless cards are starting to see it as the first step to the arrival of mobile payments. The tipping point to more mainstream acceptance will be availability: the more chance consumers have to use their contactless cards, the more enthusiastic their response becomes. For us, London 2012 will be a major tipping point in the UK, with thousands of new contactless terminals installed across the Olympic venues to make payments as easy and convenient as they can possibly be.”

Marketing research firm ABI Research has released a new study, Mobile Wallet Strategies, that forecasts mobile wallet users will grow to 594 million in 2016. According to ABI Research, the growth of mobile wallet services is driven by new NFC-capable smartphones and innovative business cases that will attract more users to use mobile wallet services.

The current market leaders are mobile network operators (MNOs), but their market share will decline in the next years as Apple and Google will claim loyal users says the report. MNOs will provide 75% of all mobile wallets in 2012, shrinking to 63% in 2016. Mark Beccue, senior analyst, mobile commerce and NFC commented: “By the end of 2012, Google will prove that Google Wallet is a hit with consumers. By 2014, we will see Google Wallets supported alongside competing MNO offerings globally.”

comScore, an internet marketing research company, released an analysis of mobile financial services usage in the U.S. The comScore Mobile Financial Advisor is a quarterly report that combines insights from comScore MobiLens and a dedicated re-contact survey focused on mobile financial services.

According to the report 32.5 million Americans accessed mobile banking information on their devices at the end of Q2 2011 in June, representing 13.9 percent of all mobile users. The study also revealed that 12.7 million mobile users reported using banking apps, a increase of 45 percent from Q4 2010.

Mobile Banking and Credit Card Usage See Highest Increases in Visitation

“New apps and mobile-enhanced sites have made it easier for customers to seek out financial information using mobile devices. With tablets and other web-enabled connected devices gaining popularity in addition to smartphones, financial service institutions are poised for additional growth in mobile access,” said Sarah Lenart, comScore vice president for Marketing Solutions.