Some 41.5 billion mobile financial service transactions will be made by the end of 2011, according to Juniper, with the Far East and China expected to use mobile finance the most. The region will see 250 million people adopting mobile financial services within the next few years.

It’s interesting to note that Juniper reckons aside from the “unbanked”, the other big push to mobile financial services will come from kids between 13 and 18 who can’t get credit cards and so will end up using their phones as an online payment mechanism. Surely this is something Visa and friends should be looking at – turning mobile phones into prepaid credit cards?

By the looks of things, it’s going to be a mammoth market at $87 billion worth of mobile ticketing transactions by 2011, as operators start using mobile ticketing to cut down on paper and trim costs, as well as fighting fraud. Apparently, the airline industry will see the benefits with around $500 of cost savings each year once it adopts mobile boarding passes.

And finally – finally! – NFC tickets will also start spreading, with serious uptake happening from 2009. I’m really hoping this does turn out to be the case – no more excuses for lost or torn tickets. After all, Oyster functionality is already being tested on mobiles, why not bring other modes of transport on board too?