All countries will be functionally cashless by 2030, according to GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that even developing nations in Asia and Africa are jumping straight from physical cash to mobile payments.

$140 trillion worth of transactions made by mobile wallets by 2030

This prediction came about as part of GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Tech in 2030 – Thematic Research’, which highlights that—especially in the wake of COVID-19—customers are finding it more convenient to manage their finances online, with financial services often embedded into apps. GlobalData forecasts that $140 trillion worth of transactions will be made via mobile wallets by 2030.

Beyza Karakoy, Thematic Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The omnipresence of smartphones has accelerated the adoption of digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung as a payment option. The pandemic also spurred the adoption of mobile payments as a convenient, contactless alternative to cash. In particular, markets in Asia and Africa have leap-frogged cards and moved straight to mobile payment-based societies. European countries with ambitions of becoming cashless will follow suit.

“Governments will, however, have to provide solutions for people that cannot access the electronic economy. Shifting to cashless societies will reduce the size of the black market and governments will also increasingly explore and develop central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to tackle this.”

Millennials and Gen Z drive shopping using smartphones and social media

One driver of digital wallets is social commerce, which is popular with millennial and Gen Z shoppers. Mobile and social commerce involve shopping features integrated within social media platforms.

Karakoy continues: “The popularity of social commerce will drive the development of super-apps that offer a diverse range of services, including finance, social media, and ecommerce. These will be ubiquitous by 2030. Meta is in a good position here, as it has access to more than three billion monthly active users across all its platforms.”