The shift to electronic vehicles continues, while mobile payment technologies attract interest.

Two recent surveys, the 2010 AFP Electronic Payments survey from AFP and the World Payments Report 2010 from a trio of organizations — CapGemini, RBS, and Efma (the European financial marketing association) — show a payments landscape that continues to grow, particularly in emerging markets, and shift from paper to electronic and mobile payment devices.

As its name indicates, The World Payments Report 2010 looks at retail and business payments globally. Around the world, noncash payments, such as those made with credit and debit cards, grew by 9 percent in 2008, the global downturn notwithstanding; this growth is expected to have continued into 2009. In fact, the U.K.’s Payments Council National Plan is set to phase out check usage in Great Britain by 2018. Countries showing the greatest growth in noncash payments were China, up 29 percent; South Africa at 25 percent; and Russia, up an eye-popping 66 percent. At the same time, the developed economies in North America, Europe, and Asia continue to account for more than three-quarters of the overall noncash payments market.

While the World Payments Report showed retail payments growing, the number and value of high-value payments dropped. For instance, the value of large dollar payments processed in the U.S. via the Fedwire declined by nearly 30 percent. The number of payments cleared through the U.K.’s automated payments systems was down by 11 percent.

When it comes to making noncash payments, cards are the instrument of choice, accounting for 58 percent of transactions. Alternative payments providers, such as PayPal, account for a tiny fraction – less than 1 percent – of transaction volume. However, these transactions are expected to grow at 29 percent annually between 2008 and 2012, versus 19 percent growth in more traditional payment businesses.

Over the medium to long term, mobile payments will continue to grow and eventually provide an alternative to cash payments, the report notes. For the time being, however, their growth is somewhat hamstrung by the lack of merchant infrastructures and the small number of mobile phones equipped with near-field communication (NFC) technology.

A heightened regulatory environment continues to impact the global payments industry. The Financial Action Task Force, for instance, has issued numerous recommendations designed to deter money laundering and terrorist financing. While these procedures may be needed, they will “reduce the efficiency of payment systems, slowing the rate of straight-through processing and raising the cost of payment processing.”

In the U.S., the 2010 AFP survey highlights the changes that have occurred since the organization’s last survey in 2007. Most notably, check payments made by businesses have dropped from 74 percent to 57 percent of total payments. Additionally, half the respondents are planning to convert the majority of their payments to major suppliers to electronic vehicles within the next 3 years. This shift is being driven by cost savings, improved cash forecasting, and fraud control.

Several specific electronic payment applications hold particular appeal. Among respondents, 58 percent are likely to use ACH to pay their taxes, and more than 40 percent will use these applications for payroll.

Still, organizations face a few obstacles in their migration to an electronic payments landscape. First and foremost, 83 percent of respondents indicated that it was difficult to get suppliers to accept electronic payments. More than three-quarters said that the inability to send or receive automated remittance information was a concern. In addition, the lack of IT resources needed to implement electronics payment initiatives was an issue for 70 percent of respondents.

Finally, while few organizations participating in the survey currently use mobile payments, about one-fourth are evaluating the technology’s impact for use within the next 3 years. ###