ROMANIA: Payments by smartphone tripled in 2016 | Progresiv
MobilPay Wallet transactions in Romania, which means payment at the cash registers using the smartphone, increased both in value and volume, three times in the first 10 months of this year compared to the same period of 2015. 
The average payment with this app - called a digital wallet and developed by Netopia company – rose this year to 85 lei and most users paid with their cell phone the purchases made in the hypermarkets and supermarkets across the country.
According to Netopia mobilPay, most transactions (63%) are made in Bucharest, mainly by men, on mobile phones running Android (70%).
Among the cities with the most mobilPay Wallet users are Timisoara (7%), Cluj-Napoca (6%), Brasov (6%) and Constanta, Ploiesti and Iasi, each accounting for about 2% of the total transactions made with this application.
"The rate of adoption of the app grows organically from month to month, as well as that of the loyal users. In a Romania where cash is still most used, the fact that we have constant users, some paying record amounts in the partner hypermarkets and supermarkets chains, of 3000-4000 lei, shows that innovation can change systems and perceptions", says Antonio Eram, CEO and Founder Netopia mobilPay.
Regarding the purchases paid with mobilPay Wallet in the partner hypermarkets and supermarkets chains, most are at lunch, between 12:00 and 14:00 and in the evening, from 17:00 to 20:00. The largest mobile phone payments are for processed food products and fruits and the fewest transactions are for tobacco, water and coffee.
Launched in March 2013, the mobilPay Wallet application is available for smartphones and can be downloaded for free from Google Play and App Store, and can be used for shopping in all Carrefour hypermarkets and supermarkets, the Selgros chain across the country and Cora stores in Bucharest.
Netopia ended 2015 with a turnover of around 42.5 million lei, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.
