The global transaction volume of in-store and ecommerce digital wallet payments will exceed US$10tn by 2025, according to a forecast commissioned by Discover Global Network.

The forecast is based on research which also found that, in 2020, digital wallets accounted for 27% of in-store spending, 41% of ecommerce spending and 46% of mcommerce spending and were the most widely used digital payment service overall.

The highest increases in digital wallet use have been in Singapore (74%), India (70%) and China (61%), where “many digital wallets have evolved into ‘super apps’, encompassing a wide range of services, from payments to purchasing movie tickets to insurance”, the researchers say.

“While P2P payments fall outside of retail spending, they represent an important focal point within the digital payment ecosystem,” the researchers add.

“In 2020, we estimated that P2P payments represented $7.1tn in global volume — a figure we expect to expand at a 20% CAGR through 2025, reaching $18tn in volume.”

The State of the Union: Global Digital Payments and Fintech Ecosystem study also found that one in three consumers surveyed worldwide say they “began using digital payments for the first time within the last year, while more than half (52%) say they have transitioned all or most of their in-store spending to online.

“Further, 49% say they are now more comfortable with making digital payments as a result of Covid-19.”

More than six in ten consumers (61%) participating in the survey also say they are “interested in having connected devices automatically make purchases on their behalf” while three in four have “at least one financial services app from a non-bank provider on their smartphone”.

The consumer survey included in the research involved 3,869 respondents in the US, China, India, Singapore, Mexico, Brazil, UK and Germany during Q1 2021.

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