Came across an interesting report over at Mobile Payments Today on global mobile payment acceptance in 2012. While it’s no secret mobile money grew in 2012, the report from yStats shares data on markets we don’t discuss as frequently in the mobile money world including the US and UK. The report looked at mobile payment acceptance in 26 countries including the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, China and others.

The report found that mobile payments increased by about 70% in 2012, fuelled by growth in markets such as China, where more than 60 percent of all consumers made at least one mobile payment in the first six months of the year. Countries like South Africa and India are closely following China in adopting mobile payments.

According to the report, mobile money is set to explode in North and Latin America, with the firm predicting three digit percentage growth in the next few years in the US and rapid growth in Canada as banks and companies introduce payment systems. In Mexico, the market is relatively untapped and consumers in markets such as Argentina consider mobile payment methods unsafe.

With such big market numbers, the potential for these markets is truly staggering. However, there is going to need to be some serious education to drive acceptance in the mainstream with consumers who are security conscious. The adoption curve is likely to be similar to the one we’ve seen with online shopping and banking in North America and over time they will become confident that information is secure, and the convenience will just be too appealing to pass up. Let’s wait and see what North America has to offer this year with Rogers mobile payments launch and ISIS set to launch.