Nearly half of all UK online payments now on mobile

Mobile payments in the UK now account for 46.9% of all online payments and 40% of PayPal transactions are mobile.

The figures come from the latest quarterly Mobile Payments Index from global mobile payments provider Adyen, which reveals mobile share of key local payment methods, showing that up to half of online transactions with select payment methods are now on mobile.

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 percent of Alipay payments and 23% of UnionPay payments were on mobile.

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 percentage of online purchases come from tablets, the percentage of tablet purchases declined two percent quarter-over-quarter, and now represent only 3% more of total online purchases when compared to smartphones.

“Adyen has been focusing on offering mobile-optimized checkout for years now, and with this data demonstrating that up to half of local payment method transactions are taking place on mobile, it is clear that optimizing 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-optimized Alipay payment flow with Adyen,” he added.

SOURCE; INTERNET RETAILING