• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, October 26, 2015

Next year is going to be a big one for mobile payments, new research suggests.

Stateside, the total value of mobile payment transactions will grow 210% in 2016, according to a new forecast from eMarketer.

This year, domestic mobile payments will total $8.71 billion, with consumers spending an average of nearly $376 annually using their mobile phone as a payment method. By 2016, total mobile payment transactions will reach $27.05 billion, with users spending an average of $721.47 annually.

Total mobile payment sales will rise faster than average spending per consumer, next year, because of the growth in the number of overall users of the still emerging technology.

Bryan Yeager, an eMarketer analyst, attributes the rise to several factors. “Mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay, will become a standard feature on new smartphones," according to Yeager.

“Also, more merchants will adopt point-of-sale systems that can accept mobile payments, and incentives like promotions and loyalty programs will be integrated to attract new users,” Yeager notes in the new reports.

Overall, eMarketer expects there will be 23.2 million U.S. consumers to use proximity mobile payments in 2015. (It defines proximity mobile payments as point-of-sale transactions that use mobile phones as a payment method, via tapping, waving and similar functionality.)

By 2016, that number will grow 61.8% to 37.5 million, according to the research firm.

Yet, even as more consumers adopt the technology, there will continue to be a gap between younger and older generations.

In 2015, 17.5% of 25- to 34-year-olds will use a mobile payment method, compared to just 3.5% of those 65 and older. By 2017, 37% of the younger age group will have adopted the technology, compared with just 6.3% of the 65 and over group.

“Younger consumers generally have fewer apprehensions when it comes to experimenting with and eventually adopting new technologies,” according to Yeager. “That's certainly true for mobile payments, where security concerns are more pronounced among older consumers.”

The types of purchases made using mobile payments are also driving growth, he notes.

Indeed, eMarketer expects consumers will move beyond primarily buying low-priced goods -- below $20 -- with mobile payments to a wider array of price points.

In 2015, medium-priced purchases -- ranging from $20 to $100 -- will comprise 45.5% of all mobile payment transactions, and grow to 63.9% by 2018. Low-priced transactions are expected to decline in proportion throughout the forecast period.