Global mobile wallet spend is expected to rise nearly 32 percent this year to $1.35 trillion, according to a new Juniper Research study.

The report, "Mobile Wallets: Service Provider Analysis, Market Opportunities & Forecasts," says spending via mobile is concentrated in the Far East and China, mostly due to the success of Alipay and WeChat.

However, as players such as PayPal and Apple move to offer solutions capable of both in-store and online payments, wallets will also gain ground as a default payment mechanism in other markets.

The decision by PayPal to introduce an HCE NFC solution for POS payments ranks as a key disruptive moment in the wallet wars, according to the study. This, coupled with the success of the company's social payment subsidiary Venmo, positions the company to capitalize on increased demand for mobile wallets.

Additionally, Juniper asserts that the implementation in Europe of the Payment Services Directive 2 should spur further competition within that market.

Outside of emerging markets, wallet ventures by mobile network operator are unlikely to gain traction, Juniper said.

The Juniper whitepaper "War of the Wallets" is available for free download.