Where does Bulgaria stand with regards to mobile payments?

Almost 1.7 billion people around the world use mobile payments, and in the last five years alone, the total number of users has increased by nearly 800 million. However, the penetration of this payment method among the population of different countries is at different levels. It is most used in Taiwan and Ireland, where such services are used by 40% of people, according to data from the Digital 2024 Global Overview Report prepared by AltIndex.com.

Taiwanese and Irish people use mobile payments (payments via a smartphone or another accessory linked to a debit card) more than Americans and Britons and twice the global average, the report said.

The mobile payments industry experienced a real boom during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now several years later, it continues to thrive. Over the past five years, the service has provided hundreds of millions of people with access to electronic transactions, particularly in underbanked markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America. But they are also becoming fashionable among tech-savvy consumers in developed countries.

How mobile payments are perceived around the world

With their shares of 40%, Taiwan and Ireland are almost twice the rate ahead of the average indicator of mobile payment penetration among world users as a whole (23.7%). In other developed countries such as the US and the UK, 31% and 34% of people respectively use this method every month.

Germany and Canada are also far below the Taiwanese and Irish figures, but still above the global average, with 29% and 24% of people using mobile payments respectively. Overall, 26 countries were above the global average in using the service, half of which were developed economies.

The penetration of mobile payments in Bulgaria has reached 16.1% of users in this country.

Use of Mobile Payment Services

Percentage of Internet users aged 16 to 64 who use mobile payment services each month in selected countries

According to Statista Market Insights, almost a third of all digital payments last year, worth $3.26 trillion, came from mobile wallets, and this year the service is expected to have the same market share. However, the value of transactions in the POS mobile payment segment is expected to jump by 16% year-over-year to reach $3.78 trillion in 2024.

Besides having the lion's share of the digital payments landscape, mobile wallets are also the number one payment method in the e-commerce market. Statistics show that 49% of all e-commerce transactions in 2023 were done through digital wallets, far more than any other payment option.

Credit and debit cards are the second most popular payment method with a share of 32%. Bank transfers and cash on delivery follow with shares of 9% and 2%, respectively.

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov