More than 34m merchants worldwide to accept contactless payments on NFC smartphones

The number of merchants worldwide using software point of sale (sPOS) solutions to accept contactless payments on an ordinary NFC smartphone or tablet will increase from 6m in 2022 to more than 34.5m by 2027, according to Juniper Research.

The forecast predicts increases in total contactless payment volumes from 195bn in 2022 to 408bn in 2027 and the rollout of Apple’s Tap to Pay for iPhone sPOS feature as being among the key drivers of the increase.

The research forecasts that Apple’s decision to enable third parties to develop sPOS solutions leveraging iOS NFC capabilities will result in an influx of iOS-specific services.