A survey commissioned by connected commerce firm DOCOMO Digital has found that if economic, regulatory and technological conditions stay the same, carrier billing revenue in APAC will grow by 63 per cent by 2020, double that of Western Europe’s projection of 27 per cent growth.

The report, which was independently conducted by Ovum Research, claims that if operators, vendors and regulators don’t work together to clear the barriers in Western Europe, carrier-driven payments will continue to lag behind other regions in the world, including APAC.

“The reason that operator billing continues to be so successful in places like Japan and China, is that it is simply seen by everybody as a means of payment,” said DOCOMO Digital founder and CEO, Hiroyuki Sato. “For Western Europe to catch up, there’s a number of situations that need to be resolved and for this to happen it’s important for all stakeholders to work together to achieve this.”

The report, subtitled ‘Mindset changes and stakeholder collaboration are needed to let carrier-billed payments reach their full potential’, sought to establish why carrier-driven payments will make up a decreasing share of global mCommerce revenues by 2020, and what stakeholders can do to reverse this trend. It was authored by Guillermo Escofet, is a principal analyst of Digital Media at Ovum Research.

The report suggests that the removal of key barriers, requiring a mindset change from all stakeholders, and the use of education and safeguards, will help mobile operators secure a bigger stake in the future of mCommerce. It states that if these stakeholders don’t work together to clear these barriers, carrier-driven payments as a share of total mCommerce spend will slump from 4.1 per cent in 2014 to 0.8 per cent in 2020.

You can request a copy of the report here.