Digital payments are transforming commerce and banking before our eyes. Last year alone consumers and businesses exchanged well over one quadrillion dollars electronically compared to roughly $48 trillion in physical cash circulating the global economy. And unlike cash holding steady decade after decade, digital transaction volumes are forecast to grow over 15% annually in the coming years as mobile connectedness rises across developing countries still largely dependent on paper bills and coins.
Global digital payments projected to top $10 trillion by 2026 according to McKinsey
Experts peg the current size of the digital payments industry at over $5.5 trillion in transaction value. We can divide this activity across six primary categories:
Cards – Credit, debit and prepaid cards still dominate digital payments representing over 60% transaction value
Digital wallets – PayPal, Apple Pay and other mobile/online wallets gaining adoption
Account transfers – Bank wires and peer-to-peer apps like Venmo
Contactless – Tap-and-pay cards and devices replacing cash and plastic
Business payments – B2B transfers and virtual cards for managing expenses
Real-time payments – Instant bank transfers available 24/7/365
Cards have been around the longest, but their outdated legacy infrastructure‘s high fees and security risks have spurred an explosion of technological innovation across digital transactions – from crypto and contactless hardware to business spend management platforms and real-time settlement. And with payments activities steadily migrating online to mobile screens, having an intuitive and unified user experience is more imperative than ever before.
Globally, retail purchase volume on mobile phones alone is expected to exceed $4 trillion by 2025 according to eMarketer. The opportunity for firms to smooth and enhance consumers‘ purchasing journeys while capturing valuable behavioral data is tremendous.
Let‘s explore the world‘s largest digital payments companies making this cashless commerce revolution possible…
#10 Paytm
Paytm began over a decade ago as a simple service for topping up talk time and paying utility bills in India. But the mobile-first platform swiftly rode smartphone adoption and demonetization reforms in the 2010s to become India‘s payments giant processing billions in digital transactions for over 400 million registered users.
Beyond mobile and utility payments, Paytm now offers wealth management products, lending services, discounts across major brands, and even an online gambling and gaming platform. Last year they launched peer-to-peer UPI transactions rivaling Google Pay and PhonePe in India‘s intensely competitive payments arena.
Paytm generates sizeable revenue not just off transaction fees, but also advertising to its massive monthly active user base and strategic partnerships with major utilities and merchants.
To stay atop India‘s payments innovation curve, Paytm is doubling down on financial services with products like equities trading, digital gold purchases, and crypto wallets while expanding offline with QR payments points-of-sale. Having also built a powerful payments ecosystem for Uber rides, events tickets, food delivery and more, Paytm looks well positioned to control India‘s digital transaction future as they eye an IPO at a ~$20 billion valuation.
Key Stats
- Year Founded: 2010
- HQ: Noida, India
- Founder: Vijay Shekhar Sharma
- Funding: Over $4.8 billion
- 2021 Transaction Value: $81 billion
- Registered Users: Over 400 million
- Revenue Model: Transaction fees, advertising, financial services
- Partners: Uber, redBus, IRCTC, ICICI Bank
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Profiles rest of top 10 (Stripe, Visa, Square, Adyen, PayPal, Apple Pay, Ant Financial/Alipay)
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