The global value of contactless point of sale terminal (POS) payments, conducted in store via cards, mobile and wearables, will hit the $500 billion mark annually next year, according to new research.

Data from Juniper Research found that such payments will increase from an estimated global value of $321 billion at the end of 2016, and builds on a surge in contactless enabled POS terminals.

Implementation of the technology has increased due to retailer obligations to card companies in many markets, said Juniper, to ensure all terminals will be contactless-ready by 2020.

Financial services giant Visa, for example, announced 3.2 million terminals in Europe as of April 2016, up 23 per cent from 2.6 million at the end of 2015.

The research report, POS Terminals: Market Strategies and Segment Forecasts 2016-2021, further found that contactless terminals now account for a significant minority of terminals in many regions, and a majority in several national markets.

Over the next five years, Juniper said contactless could account for more than two in three POS terminals.

Contactless cards, meanwhile, will represent one in two payment cards in issue by 2020, and smartphone and tablet based mobile-POS will handle 20 per cent of all retail POS transaction value by 2021.

Despite this, the frequency of contactless payments could be limited in some markets, warned Juniper.

“This is mainly due to the lack of widespread availability of supporting POS contactless reader terminals, and also that some potential users are likely to remain cash-centric,” said Nitin Bhas, research author.

Bhas said Germany, for example, remains a cash-centric economy, with cash accounting for around 57 per cent of in store retail transactions.