A new study from Juniper Research has found that the adoption of mPOS devices connecting wirelessly or via mobile devices, such as those from iZettle and Square, will drive annual mPOS transactions to over 87 billion by 2023. This will represent a threefold increase over an estimated 28 billion transactions in 2018, according to a press release.

The study found that mPOS devices will drive an increased use of payment cards in emerging markets, such as India. The digitization of payments, spurred on by the policy of demonetisation, means that growth in the number of mPOS devices in India will be the fastest of any global region, at an average annual growth rate of 46 percent over the next 5 years.

The new research, POS & mPOS Terminals: Vendor Strategies, Innovation & Market Forecasts 2018-2023, found that the average price of an mPOS device will drop from $40 in 2018 to approximately $33 by 2023. This affordability, coupled with the simplicity of mPOS devices, will make them highly attractive to smaller, previously cash-driven businesses, according to the press release.

Established POS vendors such as Verifone and Ingenico will therefore increasingly look to mPOS as an area for future growth, expanding their market reach to previously unaddressed markets.

"As a result of the popularity of Square and iZettle, traditional POS manufacturers have identified mPOS as an important way to diversify revenue streams, at a time when established revenue streams are losing momentum," Nick Maynard, who authored the report, said in the press release.