Mobile Payments To Triple To $670B By 2015; Digital Goods Will Represent 40% Of Transactions

Juniper Research is releasing a new study today that reports that the transaction value of mobile payments for digital and physical goods, money transfers and NFC (Near Field Communications) transactions will reach $670 billion by 2015, up from $240 billion this year.

The top 3 regions for mobile payments (East Asia and China, Western Europe and North America) will represent 75% of the global mobile payment gross transaction value by 2015. Digital goods payments will account for nearly 40% of the market in 2015.

The research firm says that this growth is driven by the increased adoption of NFC payments, mobile ticketing by retailers, and other transactions made through mobile phones (i.e. retailers using payments systems like Square).

As Juniper reported recently, global NFC mobile contactless payment transactions will reach nearly $50 billion worldwide by 2014. Juniper says that NFC is steadily gaining traction, and because of the latest rollouts of the technology both in the U.S. and outside the U.S., 2011 and 2012 are expected to be ‘banner years for NFC service rollouts.’

Juniper also says that the need for financial access in emerging markets and developing countries will result in active mobile money users doubling by 2013, helping drive mobile transactions.

We know that payments companies like Square and PayPal are experiencing major growth in mobile transactions, and we can expect more players to start competing in this growing market.