19.5 per cent of digital payments made in the final four months of 2013 were mobile, according to cross-channel payment company Adyen.

Adyen analysed $14bn (£8.57bn) worth of transactions processed across the world on its platform, revealing 55 per cent growth in the volume of mobile transactions year-on-year. Across five key verticals identified in the Mobile Payments Index – travel, digital goods, gaming, retail and ticketing – mobile payment frequency and order value has grown rapidly.

Travel sees the largest amount of payments made on mobile, reaching nearly 30 per cent of digital transactions. Gaming has witnessed the greatest increase in payments made, up 35 per cent, to now account for 12 per cent of digital sales. Retail sees the highest average spend across both smartphones and tablets, at €66 (£54)  and €89.

For all verticals except retail, smartphone payments outweighed tablet payments in volume. But, while people shop using their smartphone more frequently, tablet average order value is consistently higher. For all verticals except travel, tablet sees the highest aversage spend over both PCs and smartphones.

Apple remains the most popular platform for making mobile payments, with the iPad enabling 41 per cent of mobile transactions from September to December. Android smartphones, meanwhile,are more regularly used for shopping than tablets, at 20 per cent versus 6.6 per cent. Android appears to be closing the gap on the iPhones dominance of smartphone payments, growing by around 8 percentage points from April to December.

The fast-growth of mobile payments is attributed to the efforts made by marketers to improve payments processes. Adyen works with the likes of Badoo, Vodafone and clothing retailer Mango.