M-Wallets: Will They Ever Become Cash Cows?

BOSTON, July 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite a few m-wallet success stories, it remains unclear whether m-payment services are attractive enough for operators to justify the millions of dollars invested in these services. Providing m-payment services for the unbanked has a clear and immediate effect on the operator's churn rate and revenue, but in the developed world this is still more of an expectation, according to a new complimentary Analyst Insight: M-Wallets: What's in It for Mobile Operators?

Download the full Analyst Insight here.

"The revenue potential associated with m-payments services for the unbanked is large and immediate. Safaricom launched the service in April 2007; in just two years, in 2009, M-Pesa accounted for 10% of the operator's mobile service revenue, and in 2012, 19%. On the other hand, the ecosystem needed for m-wallet services to become mass market in the developed world is very complex and takes a long time to build. It took around one decade after the initial investments for NTT Docomo's m-payment service to yield relatively sizable revenue, 9.3% of total service revenue in 2012," explains Stela Bokun, Senior Analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the Analyst Insight.

This Analyst Insight draws on Pyramid's upcoming report, From Digital Content to M-Wallets: M-Payment Strategies for Operators. In this report, Pyramid critically assesses mobile operators' involvement in the m-commerce value chain and the opportunity that this ecosystem presents for them. To receive an email when this report is available, please contact Jennifer Baker at Jennifer.Baker@ubm.com.

For more information about Pyramid Research's products and services, please visit www.pyr.com or contact us at info@pyr.com.

Press Contact:
Jennifer Baker
Pyramid Research
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617-747-4110
jennifer.baker@ubm.com

Pyramid Research (pyramidresearch.com) offers practical solutions to the complex demands our clients face in the global communications industry. Its analysis is uniquely positioned at the intersection of emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models, powered by the bottom-up methodology of our market forecasts for more than 100 countries - a distinction that has remained unmatched for more than 25 years. As a division of UBM Tech (tech.ubm.com), Pyramid Research contributes to the only integrated business information platform serving the global communications industry.

SOURCE Pyramid Research