Mobile Wallets and Entrepreneurship Growth

Using mobile wallet and card transaction data from a leading Singapore bank, this paper studies the effect of a mobile wallet payment technology introduction in 2017 on business growth. We find the mobile wallet usage doubled after the new technology introduction, and the improved payment convenience generated a significant spillover effect. Small merchants experienced a monthly increase in debit and credit card sales amount (count) of 3.5 percent (3.4 percent) compared to large merchants. The payment technology promoted sales growth primarily for new businesses by facilitating customer acquisition.

Agarwal, Sumit and Qian, Wenlan and Yeung, Bernard Yin and Zou, Xin, Mobile Wallet and Entrepreneurial Growth (December 9, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3298266 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3298266