Global digital payments volumes are predicted to increase by an average 10.9 per cent through to 2020, reaching nearly 726 billion transactions, according to the Capgemini World Payments Report 2017. The report reveals cash is becoming obsolete with exponential growth in non-cash transactions. Global digital payments volumes are predicted to increase by an average 10.9 per cent through to 2010, reaching nearly 726 billion transactions. Volumes generated by emerging economies will grow by almost 20 per cent.Australia is fourth in global standings for non-cash transactions per capita (with the US, South Korea and Denmark ahead).Phil Gomm, banking and capital markets industry practice director at Capgemini Australia, said he's telling his clients is that Australia "profiles" very strongly towards the front established economies countries moving towards digital payments."All our research bears out the fact that this leadership position makes Australia a hotbed for innovation in payments. Global markets are looking very carefully what's going on here. To give that some substance we have hit a growth rate of 9.9 per cent in non-cash transactions in Australia 2016 from 8.9 per cent growth the previous year.""Our growth rates were already very high for a mature market and are accelerating even further as we embraced digital payments transition away from cash," Gomm said. "We can fairly confidently predict that Australia will hold onto this increase of ten per cent growth in electronic transactions, which positions us in the top four of non-cash markets.""Recognising these market transitions, BPay now plan to introduce their new faster payment service Osko in 2018, on the back of the Australian New Payments Platform (NPP), likely to compete with branded solutions from major providers," said Gomm.Australia continues to rank amongst the highest non-cash transaction users per capita globally, making us a litmus test for new and innovative solutions."We'll see branded wallets from the retailers and we'll see bank issued wallets also competing for a share of digital transactions that are initiated from the mobile device," said Gomm.(By "wallet" Gomm is suggesting alternate methods of payments on the one digital device.) There is tension over fees on payments but the larger banks recognise that the Apple population, although influential, is not where the volume of transactions originating from. Most of the transactions are coming from the android marketplace which is much larger than Apple."The banks, outside at ANZ, have taken the position that they can accelerate customer behaviour without having to buy into the Apple controlled ecosystem."