New Gartner research has some mixed news for mobile payments: The total value of mobile payment transactions are predicted to continue to grow, albeit more slowly than expected. And Gartner is scaling back predictions for the use of NFC as an enabling technology for mobile payments, something NFC naysayers will undoubtedly use to bolster their skepticism.

In an updated forecast for mobile payments, Gartner said worldwide mobile payment transaction values will exceed $235 billion this year. That's an increase of 44 percent versus 2012. Mobile payment users will grow to more than 245 million in 2013, an increase from nearly 201 million in 2012.

"We expect global mobile transaction volume and value to average 35 percent annual growth between 2012 and 2017, and we are forecasting a market worth $721 billion with more than 450 million users by 2017," said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner. "Nevertheless, we have lowered the forecast of total transaction value for the forecast period due to lower-than-expected growth in 2012, especially in North America and Africa."

As for NFC transaction value, Gartner said its forecast has been reduced by 40 percent throughout the forecast period due to disappointing adoption of NFC technology in all markets. According to Gartner's predictions, NFC will account for only about 2 percent of total transaction value in 2013 and 5 percent of the total transaction value in 2017.

The largest drivers of mobile payments will be money transfers and merchandise purchases, Gartner said. Money transfers will account for 71 percent of mobile transactions, while 21 percent of mobile transactions will be for buying merchandise.

Perhaps giving some good news to digital wallet providers with aims of making m-commerce easier, Gartner said the total number of mobile transactions for purchasing goods is still small because the buying experience on mobile devices has yet to be optimized.

Money transfer on the other hand, will continue to grow as services become more widely available and as transaction costs remain lower than the cost of traditional bank services.

Gartner also is predicting mobile bill payment will grow 44 percent in 2013 and see steady gains through 2017.

The Asia/Pacific region will take the lead over other regions in mobile payments, Gartner said. Transaction value in the region is predicted to grow 38 percent in 2013 to reach $74 billion. By 2016, Asia/Pacific will surpass Africa to become the largest region by transaction value, Gartner said.

The North American region will grow 53 percent in 2013 to hit $37 billion, Gartner said. Western Europe's transaction value will reach $29 billion in 2013

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