Following the April launch of Paym, a person-to-person mobile payment service, the U.K. Payments Council Thursday launched a research paper comparing mobile payments markets on an international basis.   

Looking at the person-to-person mobile payment services of the U.K., Sweden, Kenya, India, Japan and the U.S., the paper compares various areas including ownership, infrastructure, speed and the customer experience of mobile banking. The Payments Council is behind Paym in the U.K.

The Payments Council's study found: 

• the UK's Paym remains the only industry-wide free to use person-to-person mobile payments service globally;
• Japan and the United States – traditionally seen as world-leaders in payments technologies - lag behind their European counterparts, the UK and Sweden, in delivering person-to-person mobile payment solutions;
• India struggles to provide the universality of service provided in the U.K. and Sweden, due in most part to the demographic and geographic disparity of the country; and
• Kenya's M-Pesa has increased financial capability and inclusion in a country lacking in a banking and payments infrastructure.

Commenting on the launch of the report, Adrian Kamellard, chief executive of the Payments Council said:

"Mobile technology has changed human behavior across the globe and in so doing has revolutionized the way we carry out many every day, yet vital tasks. The sphere of payments is no exception to this disruptive trend – so it is interesting to see the influence that local regulatory, cultural and technological differences make to how new mobile payment services are implemented.

"Looking round the world makes it clear that Paym is a world leading service, even when compared with trailblazers such as M-Pesa in Africa. The UK payments industry's collaborative model of change, which builds upon our existing world class real-time payments infrastructure has delivered real benefits for customers, with a service which - unlike many other places in the world - is free for customers at the point of use."