Mobile payment transaction volume continued gradual increase in 2021-end

Overall, the number of transactions carried out by local mobile payment tools grew by 5.4 per cent from the previous quarter to 56.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 with the average amount per transaction being MOP101.

The number of mobile payment terminals and QR code has also increased to a total of 90,900.

A study carried out by financial services group Visa last year on consumers’ preferences and emerging trends in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan indicated that Macau users had the highest preference among the three regions for mobile QR payments.

The report underlined that the use of mobile QR payments as their preferred method of payment has increased in Macau significantly from 45 per cent in 2020 to 70 per cent in 2021.

The volume of local mobile payment transactions has increased exponentially since the pandemic outbreak at the beginning of last year, with several merchants transferring their businesses online and as repeated government economy stimulus rounds – including consumer e-couchers – required the use of mobile payment terminals.

Mobile payment transactions volume in the SAR reached MOP12.7 billion in the first three quarters of 2021, triple the amount reported in the same period last year and already double the amount registered for the whole of 2020.

During the last three months of 2021 credit card turnover in Macau also totalled MOP5.3 billion, an increase of 9.8 per cent quarter-to-quarter, with the number of credit card transactions rising 13.9 per cent to 8 million.

By Nelson Moura