The PSA says that in a year where businesses throughout the economy struggled with the impact of the pandemic, the phone-paid services market performed relatively well, contracting by 2.7%. Phone-paid services offered by charities and broadcasters performed especially well, with revenues for these parts of the market increasing to £65.8 million (up £25.7 million) and £154.4 million (up £27.8 million) respectively.

Highlights of the Review include:

• UK consumers spent £628 million on phone-paid services in 2020/21;
• charity text donation performed particularly strongly, with a 64% jump in donations; and
• revenue-share services are expected to contract slightly in 2021/22 (-2.4%) before returning to growth the following year.

The PSA commissioned Analysys Mason to conduct this year’s Annual Market Review. Based on a survey of 5,000 users of phone-paid services and industry interviews, the Annual Market Review is an in depth look at the phone-paid services market and consumer experiences of it. It also forecasts the market for the following three financial years.