SINGAPORE: Asian-based payment methods are driving the adoption of global mobile payments, according to a study of transactions conducted across the Adyen platform in the final quarter of 2015.

Adyen, a Dutch payments technology company, released its latest Mobile Payments Index (MPI) with the key observation that, for the first time, a third (34%) of browser-based online transactions around the world are now made on mobile devices.

This compared to just over 30% in the previous quarter and Adyen attributed the increase to major Asian payment systems, such as Alibaba's Alipay, China's UnionPay and JCB of Japan.

JCB had the biggest share (54%) of mobile payments made on the Adyen platform, up from 47% in the previous quarter, while Alipay increased to 44% from 35%, and UnionPay grew to 31%, up from 23%.

The global analysis also showed that smartphones overtook tablets as the preferred device for making online retail purchases in the last quarter (17.5% versus 16%).

Smartphones also increased their lead over tablets in mobile payment share across the world, growing 2% from the previous quarter to 68%, compared with 32% on tablet.

Asia, again, set the trend with 29.5% of online payments made on a smartphone compared to 4.5% on a tablet.

By comparison, 23% of online payments were made on a smartphone in Europe and 11% on tablet, while the US recorded 23% on a smartphone and 8% on a tablet.

"The checkout stage of the shopper journey is not the end, but the beginning of an on-going relationship with the consumer," said Warren Hayashi, president of Adyen Asia Pacific.

"Merchants that have created a frictionless mobile checkout experience are driving repeat traffic, especially in Asia where many consumers are increasingly shopping online through a mobile device."

Data sourced from Adyen; additional content by Warc staff