Digital wallet transaction to exceed $12 trillion by 2026: Juniper

A new study from Juniper Research reveals that digital wallet transactions are expected to grow by 60 percent, reaching a total value of $12 trillion by 2026.

A recent Juniper whitepaper on the topic defines digital wallets as, “A software-based system that securely stores users’ payment information and passwords for many payment methods and websites in one location.”

The authors name digital wallets as the catalyst for the acceleration of a cashless society.
The research predicts that digital payment vendors will diversify their payment products in order to capitalise on this growth, to include both BNPL and crypto in their offerings.

“Digital wallets vendors must look to offer value-added services, such as loyalty rewards and credit, to diversify their revenue streams; capitalising on a highly active user base,” the authors write.

A key driver behind the growth is the increasing merchant acceptance of digital wallets, the report reveals, with application programming interfaces (APIs) between financial institutions and retailers expected to drive international growth in digital wallets.

Juniper Research has named five leading market vendors in its Competitor Leaderboard, which provides an independent assessment of leading digital wallet players.

According to Juniper Research, The Competitor Leaderboard “includes a robust and transparent assessment methodology, including heatmap analysis and a thorough explanation of each company’s market position. The Leaderboard tool assesses each vendor’s capacity, capability, and products. This analysis includes assessing the size of their operations, financial performance and the sophistication of their digital wallets offerings.”

The vendors leading the pack are as follows:
1. PayPal
2. Alipay
3. WeChat Pay
4. Apple Pay
5. Google Pay

“We have ranked PayPal as an established leader as it has successfully grown an expansive, differentiated offering; leveraging its strong merchant acceptance by expanding quickly into buy-now-pay-later and QR code payments, as well as signing partnerships with key merchants to scale its innovative solutions,” said co-author Damla Sat.

“The digital wallets market is heavily saturated, meaning finding a source of differentiation is critically important.”