U.S. Consumer Spending: The Mobile Payments Opporunity

U.S. consumer spending is about $10 trillion to $11 trillion a year.

Food is about 13 percent of that spending. Apparel is about 3.5 percent.

Transportation is about 15.6 percent. Entertainment is about 5.5 percent.

Health care is about 6.4 percent. "Other" purchases are about 10.5 percent.

What that means is that some 48 percent or more of monthly retail spending involves "buying things" other than paying a mortgage or rent (assume for that analysis that zero percent of the health care spending is out of pocket by the consumer).

That means upwards of $4.8 trillion a year is spent by consumers buying things that require some sort of payment. Most of that is spent at retail locations.

And that's why many are intrigued by mobile payments.