London, Nov 18 (IANS): Over two billion mobile phone or tablet users will make some form of mobile commerce transaction globally by the end of 2017, up from 1.6 billion this year, a report by Juniper Research said Monday.

The mobile consumption of services such as banking, money transfer and purchases of goods and services is surging as consumers are either migrating from desktop usage or becoming first-time e-Commerce users through their smartphones or tablets, Xinhua quoted the Britain-based high-tech industry research company as saying in its report.

The report found that in a number of developed markets, mobile devices would account for over half of online transactions within five years.

It was also observed that while contact-less payments had yet to gain traction outside Japan and South Korea, Apple Pay, a modern payment service offered by Apple Inc., was expected to provide NFC with real momentum, said Juniper.

The company stressed the opportunity for mobile to offer consumers in emerging markets first-time financial inclusivity through the provision of mobile wallets, enabling services beyond payments such as savings and micro-insurance.

The report highlighted the potential of social networks in accelerating mobile commerce adoption. It also recommended the integration of operator billing capabilities with websites to monetise digital content among a wider user base.