China is set to be the global leader in digital payments by 2020, overtaking the U.S. in a market predicted to grow by double-digit rates over the next few years, according to the “World Payments Report 2017” by French technology consulting firm Capgemini and banking group BNP Paribas. The study predicts that the number of global non-cash transactions will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 10.9% until 2020, when they will reach USD726 billion. Developing economies as a whole will grow at 19.6% a year, with emerging Asia, led by China and India, set to record the highest growth worldwide – 30.9% – due to sustained digital innovation and adoption of digital payments.

“By 2020, it is highly likely that emerging economies will be the powerhouses of global non-cash transaction volumes growth, with China most likely challenging the U.S. as the leading market,” the report said. China alone will see growth of 36% over the next five years, it added. The study comes shortly after a United Nations report that predicted online, mobile, and digital currency payment systems would overtake credit and debit cards as the most popular ways to pay for e-commerce worldwide by 2019.

China is currently in third position in terms of the total non-cash transaction volumes. Its growth would be driven by multiple initiatives designed to create a cashless economy. “Chinese shoppers are more willing to store their payment information on their smartphones and are also willing to experiment with alternative payment methods, suggesting higher growth rates of mobile payments in the near future,” the report said. Chinese financial technology firms have already begun to export their services. Ant Financial, an Alibaba affiliate, has been trying to buy U.S.-based MoneyGram International. It has filed for clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS).

Tencent, Alibaba’s rival in China, has also made a push into India’s e-commerce and online payment industry. It led a USD175 million funding of Indian messaging app Hike last year, along with Taiwanese tech firm Foxconn, and partnered with Microsoft and eBay earlier this year to invest USD1.4 billion in Indian online retailer Flipkart.

China’s mobile payment market had reached CNY23 trillion by the end of the second quarter, up 22.5% from the previous quarter, according to Analysys International. “The development of non-cash payments and the decrease in the use of cash are an irreversible trend,” Wang Xin and Guo Dongsheng of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said, as reported by the South China Morning Post.