Cashing in: The 73 million people opting for mobile money

The mobile phone has spelled the decline of the landline, the wristwatch and the alarm clock - could cash be on the way out too? According to analysts, an increasing number of us will be using our phone to spend our money this year.

Research from market watchers Gartner found that 2009 will see the number of people making payments via their mobile phone jump 70 per cent to reach 73 million users worldwide - up from 43 million in 2008.

The mushrooming of mobile payments is set to continue over the coming years, according to Gartner, hitting 190 million users by 2012 - some three per cent of all mobile phone users across the globe.

The Asia Pacific region will see the biggest take up of mobile payments - including NFC and pay by text - reaching 3.8 per cent of all mobile users by 2012. In contrast, three per cent of users in North America and 2.5 per cent of Western Europeans will be making payments through their mobiles.

According to research director at Gartner, Sandy Shen, different types of mobile payments technology will flourish in different markets - browser and card payments, for example, are finding popularity in the US.

Such options are unlikely to find favour in emerging markets, however, due to the large number of mobile users without bank accounts.

"The most profound impact of mobile banking and payment services is that they provide the non-banking population with access to modern financial services, giving them tools to improve their living standards," said Shen in a statement.