The number of people using mobile contactless payments such as Apple or Google Pay will grow to more than 760 million by 2020, with Apple’s digital wallet leading the way, according to new research.

An estimated 440 million people will use contactless mobile services in 2018, Juniper Research said.

Apple Pay will almost double its number of digital wallets by 2020, rising to 227 million. Samsung Pay and Google Pay will each account for 100 million, followed by newer wallets such as Garmin and Fitbit Pay. Garmin launched in Ireland in recent weeks, with KBC Ireland supporting it.

The combined market share of Apple, Samsung and Google will reach 60 per cent of global mobile contactless users by 2023.

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Transactions on contactless payment services will exceed $1 trillion this year, but that increase in value does not mean that pay services will reap all the rewards. The figure includes payment cards, mobile and wearable devices.

Juniper’s research found that contactless cards remain popular with consumers in established markets, and are more likely to have increased future usage. It said OEM Pay options may struggle to gain traction in these markets.

“With contactless payments becoming the norm in many global markets, the attendant payment infrastructure is also becoming well established. Indeed, in markets such as Europe, contactless payments are becoming the preferred method of in-store payments,” said research author Nitin Bhas.