This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on the Payment Processing market with a primary focus on Checkout Systems, Parking Payments, Self-Checkout Systems and Pay Stations, and Card Payment Terminals.
Payment Processing is increasingly being shaped by the shift towards cashless and digital payments, as well as retailers’ focus on improving transaction efficiency and customer experience. A fully integrated Payment Processing system allows the monitoring of purchases to obtain accurate figures for stock movement that will, in turn, assist in supply chain management, enable leaner on-shelf inventory, and avoid stock shortages. The use of cashless payments is rising on a daily basis and is acting as a major driver for the adoption of contactless payment processing terminals. The adoption of contactless payments has also been further driven by its use in sectors beyond retail, such as public transport.
The market is also evolving beyond conventional payment terminals. Self-checkout and AI powered computer vision systems are being deployed to improve checkout efficiency and reduce reliance on staffed tills, while SoftPOS allows smartphones and tablets to perform some functions traditionally requiring dedicated payment hardware. At the same time, alternative payment systems such as UPI in India and PIX in Brazil demonstrate that rapid account-to-account payments can reduce reliance on traditional card acceptance infrastructure. However, these developments are also creating new opportunities for connected payment devices, including QR code scanners, merchant notification devices, smart parking payment systems, and NFC-enabled payment infrastructure.
The report provides a detailed definition of the sector, analysis of market development and profiles of the key vendors in the space. It also provides a summary of the status of adoption and Transforma Insights’ ten-year forecasts for the market. The forecasts include analysis of the number of IoT connections by geography, the technologies used (including splits by 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, LPWA, Short Range, satellite, and others), as well as the revenue split between module, value-added connectivity, and services. A full set of forecast data, including country-level forecasts, sector breakdowns and public/private network splits, is available through the IoT Forecast tool.
The report examines key factors that are influencing the development of the payment processing market, including:
This section begins by charting the drivers of payment processing systems and then it discusses their benefits, like monitoring purchases to determine accurate figures for stock movement, which in turn assists in supply chain management.
This subsection explains how payment cards have now become the norm, and many of them have adopted the EMV standard and NFC capabilities. It also argues that the advent of digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay has allowed customers to purchase products using their smartphones or wearable devices. It also adds that governments are also trying to make a push towards reducing the use of cash payments. Case in point, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in Japan announced plans to raise the use of non-cash payments from 19% in 2020 to 40% by 2025, and eventually to 65% by 2030.
This subsection discusses how the Covid-19 pandemic rapidly increased the use of contactless payments, backed by factors like increasing limits for contactless purchases. It then adds that due to increasing interest and demand, regulators across the globe started increasing limits for contactless purchases. In a tabular format, it charts the contactless payment transaction limits across various countries, including Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Mauritius, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey, the UAE, Uganda, the UK, and the US. For instance, in the US, there is no law regulating the limit, although some banks and credit card providers have instated their own limits. For instance, American Express has a limit of USD250 per contactless transaction in the country; Chase has set limits to USD100 for each contactless transactions; Bank of America limits this to USD100-USD200 for each contactless transaction; and Wells Fargo limits this to USD100-USD250 for each contactless transaction.
It then charts how contactless cards dominate the market. For instance, as per the Smart Payment Association, contactless cards accounted for 92% of global payment card shipments in 2024, up from 84% in 2022 and 88% in 2023. It also explains how these cards have gained popularity, owing to their usage in other sectors (like public transport), and adds that challenges like security concerns still hamper their adoption.
This subsection explains how the increasing dominance of e-commerce platforms (further exacerbated by Covid-19) has limited the demand for traditional brick-and-mortar retail stores, limiting the market for Payment Processing solutions. It then adds that hybrid checkout models are also becoming popular these days, which combine traditional checkout infrastructure with AI-powered capabilities such as computer vision, smart carts, automated item recognition, loss-prevention analytics, and advanced payment technologies. It also discusses some of the other barriers towards the adoption of Payment Processing solutions, such as the use of smartphone app-based payment software, increasing adoption of alternative modes of payment (like QR codes), and early-stage development of biometric devices. It then explains that several payment providers are piloting biometric payment solutions. For example, in Brazil, Cielo and Ingenico conducted a proof-of-concept pilot that allowed consumers to make payments by scanning their palm vein after linking their biometric profile to Visa or Mastercard payment cards.
Finally, it adds that although international travellers have typically used cash for payments while travelling abroad, increased usage of payment cards with no foreign transaction fees has reduced this. It also says that improved coordination between international banks should positively increase this trend. For instance, P27 Nordic Payments exemplifies this increased cooperation by seeking to establish a single, pan-Nordic, real-time, multi-currency payments infrastructure serving approximately 29 million residents across Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
This section first points out what smart checkout systems include, how they work, their benefits (like improved efficiency), and drivers (such as ease of operations). It then discusses the growing trend of deploying AI-powered computer vision checkout systems that completely eliminate barcode scanning.
It also explains the kind of connectivity technology these systems use, like a LAN network using Ethernet or Wi-Fi. It also provides a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, like Wendy’s deploying FreshAI voice ordering, integrated with POS systems.
This section discusses the potential of parking facilities as an important market for payment terminals, since they are deployed to facilitate multiple payment methods. It further adds that although physical meters will be retained in most cases, app-based payments and automated billing will reduce the use of physical meters in the long run. It also mentions that in-vehicle payment methods by OEMs (like BMW’s ConnectedDrive system) will hinder the adoption of payment processing terminals. It also discusses the benefits of deploying cashless parking payment systems in general, like improving service efficiency and eliminating the risk of theft and fraud.
It then shifts its focus to automated payment systems (which are mostly deployed in parking lots with a limited number of entrances and exits) and explains how they work. It also explains that some of these systems rely on RFID tags used to collect parking payments without any human intervention. It also provides a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, like the University of Southern California (USC) leveraging FrogParking payment kiosks to streamline parking payments at the campus.
This section focuses on how a large section of the retail industry has shifted towards a cashier-less model and charts the benefits of doing so (like saving operational costs). It also explains how labour shortage in countries like Sweden and Japan is also leading to the adoption of the model. It also adds that research indicates that consumer demand for self-service checkouts remains strong. For instance, a 2025 consumer survey by NCR Voyix found that 63% of Gen Z shoppers and 45% of Millennials prefer to use self-checkout when shopping for groceries.
This section also charts the barriers faced during the implementation of such a model, including the high initial investment costs and security issues. It also gives a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, like Merco partnering with Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions to deploy MxP Self-Checkout systems across its supermarket network.
This section first charts the drivers of Card Payment Terminals, like the growing demand for cashless transactions. It then explains how portability is a major differentiator here and the kind of connectivity technologies these devices use, like Short Range. It then discusses the benefits of mobile card payment terminals, like allowing staff to be engaged more efficiently. It then explains how these terminals also benefit merchants who are away from the shop floor, since these devices can acquire and use customer data through integration with a mobile application and use it to improve customer engagement and satisfaction. It further adds that the price of card payment terminals has declined significantly in the last decade, which has reduced barriers to electronic payment acceptance. For instance, in recent years, suppliers like Ingenico have been selling the average hardware for around EUR135 (USD154) per terminal. It also lists some of the major reasons behind this shift, like growing competition from Chinese manufacturers like Pax and Newland. It also charts a few competitive factors for mobile card payment terminals, including Software Point-of-Sale (SoftPOS).
This section also provides a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, like Green-Pay deploying a smartPOS system from PAX across Côte d'Ivoire.
The key vendors section lists some of the main providers of products and services related to the market such as PAX, Verifone, IPS, Flowbird, Ingenico, NEXGO, NCR Voyix, Diebold Nixdorf, Pine Labs,Fiserv, Adyen, Newland NPT, Paytm, and PhonePe. The report provides profiles of the various vendors including aspects most relevant to this Application Group, such as product offerings, pricing, financial results, and technology.
In the market forecasts section, we provide a summary of the forecasts from the Transforma Insights IoT Forecast Database:
The report charts the growth in the number of devices, which will grow from 252 million in 2025 to 377 million in 2035.
Transforma Insights forecasts are compiled on a country-by-country basis. This report includes a regional summary, showing splits between Australasia, Greater China, North America, Europe, Japan, Latin America, MENA, Russia & Central Asia, South East Asia, South Korea, India & South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Transforma Insights’ IoT forecasts include splits between the various connectivity technologies as follows: 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G mMTC, 5G non-mMTC, LPWA (non-mMTC), Satellite, Short Range, and Other.
This section discusses which technologies will be used in the payment processing application group.
This part of the report discusses the market growth in terms of revenue (module revenue, service wrap revenue, and VAC revenue). Transforma Insights estimates that the revenue in the Payment Processing Application Group will grow at a CAGR of 4%.
