The data and analytics company revealed in yesterday’s report that more than half a trillion real-time payments will be processed over the next five years.

Contactless methods like Paywave and digital online payments have seen substantial increases as cash in discouraged amongst the millions currently in lockdown.

“Real-time payments systems can really help with the disruption caused by COVID-19,” says GlobalData lead analyst Sam Murrant.

The restrictions imposed on countries as Covid-19 spreads, and reluctance of consumers to use cash and preference for decreased contact, will shape consumer behaviour going forward, as consumers take up new habits of using digital payment services.

“The ability to send money to a contact and have them be able to use it right away presents a powerful tool for families and communities to support each other through the present hardship”, Murrant explains.”In the longer term, once the user bases are in place, these systems will also be able to leverage their speed and efficiency to move out of P2P and into the consumer-to-business space.”

Real-time payment adoption will likely come to dominate new arenas and vary between countries depending on goals, be they improved financial inclusion, cross-border commerce or quickening the shift to a cashless economy.

“Real-time payments have huge disruptive potential for payments – these systems won’t just be dominating P2P and bill payments in the years to come,” says Murrant. “We’ll be using these systems to pay online and ultimately at the point of sale too.”