The number of discussions surrounding mobile payments has enhanced in Middle East and Africa (MEA), revealed MasterCard today at Mobile World Congress. The findings were drawn from MasterCard's 4th annual Mobile Payments research study, performed in collaboration with PRIME Research, to recognize expanding conversations on new ways to pay and provided understandings into brand-new mobile payments item and classification trends, consisting of Biometrics, Contactless Cards, Digital Wallets, Personal Payments and Wearable Devices.

The MasterCard 2015 Mobile Money Study assessed more than 2 million initial social media posts, along with more than 433 thousand reposts, over the past year across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Forums, Google+ and YouTube, including both consumer discourse and news-driven conversations. The study noted Nigeria, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Kenya as the leading 5 nations in MEA in terms of discussion reach.

With a gross reach of 179.9 million users and a volume of 25,400 discussions, 'Digital Wallets' controlled social conversations on mobile payments in MEA. Discussions about 'Digital Wallets' enhanced by 111 % from 2014 to 2015, driven largely by announcements surrounding the launch of Samsung Pay and Android Pay in Q1 and Q3 of 2015 respectively.

The most beneficial discussions on social networks centered on 'Biometrics', led primarily by MasterCard's announcement on 'Selfie Pay' in the 2nd half of the year and Samsung's plans to bring finger print readers to lower-cost phones. Increasing interest in biometrics is anticipated to generate future chances as both lower- and higher-income customers stand to acquire from biometrics adoption and enhancements.

In the latter part of 2015, customers in MEA required to social media to share info about using 'Contactless Cards'-- recognizing the ingenious solutions they provide such as MasterCard PayPass that scored high exposure throughout the area, with users sharing product details consisting of how-to videos. Conversations were likewise largely positive in tone and gross reached 2.5 million users. The research also revealed that ongoing expansion in use points for contactless cards in essential markets such as UAE and South Africa has enhanced customer interest in 'Contactless Cards'.

MasterCard Send-- the first-of-its kind worldwide individual payments platform-- was the main driver of Q2 presence for social conversations on 'Personal Payments' in MEA, following the service's announcement in May 2015 and gross reached 1 million users.

While also mainly favorable in tone, social conversations on 'Wearable Devices' were the least visible when compared with the other subjects, and were driven mainly across local borders, with MasterCard's statement of brand-new payment wearables at Money 20/20 in the United States and forecasts about future wearables from Visa Europe creating interest in the area.