451 Research projects the global mPoS installed base will grow from 13.3 million units today to 54.03 million units in 2019. Diverse factors including enterprise deployments, expansion into new vertical industries and financial inclusion in developing economies will serve to increase the installed base at a 32% CAGR during the forecast period.

This forecast is from 451 Research’s newest Technology & Business Insight report, Mobile Point of Sale: Smart Devices Earn a Growing Share of Global Payment Acceptance. Analysts compiled the data using a bottom-up market-sizing breakdown, aggregating more than 75 individual vendor shipment estimates and including direct vendor input.

451 Research defines mPoS as a smartphone, tablet or other consumer-oriented mobile device that functions as a point-of-sale terminal and facilitates payment card transactions through a contact (e.g., audio jack, wired connection) or wireless (e.g., Bluetooth) connection to a card-accepting reader or device sled.

“Today, it’s simply myopic to look at mPoS as a tool for micro-merchants. In a short time frame, it has broadened its roots across a wide swath of vertical industries and almost unanimously across all merchant tiers,” said Jordan McKee, Senior Analyst for 451 Research’s mobile payment coverage. “The technology’s momentum is at least in part linked to its diversity; mPoS is helping to enable customer engagement in retailers such as Nordstrom while driving financial inclusion in countries such as Nigeria.”

According to 451 Research, rapid growth will be most evident in emerging economies where mPoS is playing a critical role in building out the electronic payments acceptance network against a backdrop of rising card penetration. In more mature markets, such as North America, mPoS expansion continues as the technology penetrates the enterprise. 451 Research analysts believe the cadence of large-scale deployments will become consistent and noteworthy over the next five years, with businesses in excess of 1,000 employees integrating mPoS more holistically across their organizations.

In addition to forecasting the size of the global installed base, 451 Research draws upon its most recent US IT Decision-Maker survey to take an in-depth examination of mPoS deployments by company size – SMB and large enterprise – in the US market, with varying use cases and levels of adoption apparent. Across all company sizes, there is a clear understanding of mPoS’ value. 451 Research finds that 87% of IT decision-makers feel that accepting card payments on a mobile device and providing a real-time receipt is important.