Cambridge based market research firm Yankee Group estimates that by 2015 $1 trillion in global transactions will run on mobile rails. This projection was part of a new service the firm announced today called Mobile Money Strategies, which aims to help companies take advantage of all the opportunity in the mobile money and commerce space.

Yankee Group reports that in 2010 mobile transactions hit $162 billion in value. The company estimates that this number will hit $241 billion this year and will grow to $984 billion by 2014 — passing $1 trillion in 2015. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 56%.

Other mobile money estimates by Yankee Group include:

• 27% of all survey respondents use mobile banking, vs. 13% who report using mobile commerce, 11% who report using mobile coupons, and 9% who report using mobile payments.
• NFC-enabled phones will grow from just 7M in 2011 to 203M in 2015, a CAGR of 208%.
• Europe, the Middle East and Africa currently lead the way in mobile transaction adoption accounting for 41% of mobile transactions. North America follows at 35%, the  Asia Pacific region at 22% and Latin America at 1%. (See Figure 1 below.)
• 20-44 year olds are most interested in adopting mobile transactions. (See Figure 2 below.)

Yankee Group estimates that 500 million people will leverage mobile banking by 2015, noting that this represents an “enormous opportunity” for both new and established companies operating in the mobile money ecosystem.

We are on the cusp of a burgeoning mobile money marketplace, one where first movers will gain a significant strategic advantage,” said Gigi Wang, chief research officer at Yankee Group. “With consumers flocking to all things mobile, Mobile Money Strategies delivers the market intelligence and insights needed to profit from this revolution.”