LONDON, December 14, 2006–With adoption driven by some of the world’s largest card associations and banks, wireless operators and merchants, spending on contactless payments hardware and software will reach $870 million by 2011, up from just $260 million in 2006, amounting to a compound annual growth rate of 27%, according to a new study from ABI Research.

“Initial contactless payments deployments have already shown the ability to speed transactions and capture previously cash-only transactions for financial service networks,” says senior analyst Jonathan Collins.

Two key applications are now driving adoption: proprietary transportation ticketing, and open credit, debit, and e-purse payments tied to financial service networks. At present, transportation ticketing represents the majority of contactless payment adoption around the world, but that position will be overtaken by adoption of open systems payments within the next few years.

However, uptake is taking place at varying rates across regions, national markets and market segments, as contactless payments are added to existing payment networks and environments. “In North America, open system payments are driving the contactless adoption,” says Collins. “In Europe contactless ticketing systems are spurring interest in contactless payments, but it is in Japan and South Korea that contactless technology is making the greatest headway. Built on the foundations of contactless transportation ticketing and with the additional boost from contactless payment-enabled mobile handsets, these markets are leading the way in realizing the potential for contactless payments.”

Elsewhere, while mobile handsets will develop to enable contactless payments, ongoing debate over how payment applications will be deployed and managed on wireless handsets has delayed the rollout of mobile handset contactless payments in the US and Europe.

Such hurdles slow contactless technology’s evolution from promising first deployments to a widely used, mainstream payment technology. Technology and business issues must be resolved to see open systems on mobile handsets and accepted at existing contactless-equipped transportation installations. In addition, consumers have to be comfortable with the use of the technology and confident in the security of contactless payments.

The ABI Research study, “RFID Contactless Payments” examines the trends driving contactless payment adoption, regional deployment patterns, the value of the market and the business and technological issues that still have to be resolved. It includes analysis of contactless payment adoption in a selection of key merchant categories and applications. It forms part of the Contactless Commerce Research Service, which includes Research Reports, Research Briefs, Market Data, Online Databases, ABI Insights, and analyst inquiry support.

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations supporting annual research programs, intelligence services and market reports in broadband and multimedia, RFID & contactless, M2M, wireless connectivity, mobile wireless, transportation, and emerging technologies. For information visit http://www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.