Nexi drives Italy’s record-breaking growth in mobile payments

By Puja Sharma

Milan-based PayTech Nexi which last year processed around 70% of all mobile in-store transactions in the country, driving the development of a sector that has grown by 106%  in Italy and reached a value of €7b, as confirmed by the data published by The Innovative Payments Observatory of Politecnico di Milano.

The number of Nexi cards registered on mobile payments apps is up by 50% and the firm recorded a 122% increase in in-store mobile transactions using smartphones in Italy in 2021. The PayTech, which last year processed around 70% of all mobile in-store transactions in the country, has indeed been driving the development of a sector that has grown in Italy by 106% reaching a value of €7b, as confirmed by the data published by The Innovative Payments Observatory of Politecnico di Milano.

Around 86% of this amount, up from 84% in 2020, came from purchases made with card virtualization apps, such as Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Apple Pay, proving that these solutions are the preferred and most widely used ones for in-store mobile payments. Further confirmation of this is the 50% growth of Nexi cards registered on these mobile payment apps.

Last year also saw a major increase in the use of the more innovative digital collection solutions – 54% of merchant customers of Nexi’s partner banks activated PayByLink, the service that allows them to use email or social media to send their customers a payment link.

Over 32% of merchants equipped themselves with a Mobile POS, a device that enables immediate POS-smartphone pairing, which can be used on iOS and Android devices. There was also an 85% growth in the adoption of Easy Delivery and Easy Calendar, solutions that make it possible to receive orders and payments via social media and to create a digital calendar to make appointments and then pay either remotely or on-site.

These figures testify to the fact that both individuals and businesses increasingly prefer highly innovative payment and collection tools that guarantee more speed, convenience, and security, at a moment when digital payments are growing constantly – the number of transactions made with Nexi cards in 2021 grew by 28% on 2020, with a sharper acceleration in the last quarter of the year (+30%).

Listed on Euronext Milan, Nexi is Europe’s PayTech company operating in high‐growth, attractive European markets and technologically advanced countries. The company has now the scale, geographic reach, and abilities to drive the transition to a cashless Europe.

 Key findings

• Nexi saw a 122% increase for in-store mobile transactions in 2021, compared to the previous year.
• Around 86% of this amount came from digital wallets such as Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Apple Pay.
• This sector has grown by 106% reaching a value of €7 billion in Italy.
• Over 54% of merchant customers at Nexi’s partner banks activated PayByLink (a service that enables them to send a payment link to customers via email or social media).
• About 32% of merchants equipped themselves with a Mobile POS, which enables immediate POS-smartphone pairing on iOS and Android devices.
• Adoption of Easy Delivery and Easy Calendar – solutions that enable orders and payments via social media, or using a digital calendar to make appointments and then pay remotely or online – grew 85%.