“Fortune sat down with MasterCard’s chief emerging payments officer, Ed McLaughlin, to talk about the company’s partnerships with Apple’s mobile payment service, Apple Pay,” Leena Rao reports for Fortune.
Fortune: In Mastercard’s experience, how’s the consumer adoption of Apple Pay?
McLaughlin: We are seeing strong uptake. But these technologies will take time to grow. Particularly with Apple Pay you need to have a new iPhone to start using Apple Pay [older versions of the iPhone are not compatible]. But we’re seeing adoption track really well.
Fortune: How many MasterCard credit cards have been integrated into Apple Pay? Visa recently said 60 million.
McLaughlin: We haven’t released that number. But we do see a lot of users using their cards with Apple Pay. We’re also analyzing where and how people are using Apple Pay with their MasterCard cards. It’s also really interesting to see what’s happening with contactless payments outside of the U.S. In the UK, I can tap my Apple Watch to pay to get onto the Tube, and that is a great experience. And I think it’s those anchor experiences that will build usage around contactless payments. We have not published tracking stats on that yet, but it’s being adopted, and it’s being used.
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yet another positive report for Apple Pay!
We would like to see Apple really ratchet up their efforts to get Apple Pay signage “Yes, we have Apple Pay!” posted at every Apple Pay-capable point of sale. The more people who see that sign, the more Apple Pay users will use it and the more others will want to use it. It’s a win-win for everyone and doesn’t cost that much to accomplish.
SEE ALSO:
Apple Pay transaction limit increased in the U.K. – September 1, 2015
Apple Pay will now work with PayAnywhere – August 27, 2015
Is Apple Pay the killer app for Apple Watch? – August 19, 2015
Apple Watch owners vastly prefer Apple Watch to iPhone for Apple Pay – August 18, 2015
In its second year, Apple Pay primed to cash in – July 24, 2015
The hidden brilliance behind the timing of Apple’s adoption of NFC – September 12, 2014
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Bill” for the heads up.]
What about the Apple Watch, oh yea that can’t be the reason because no one has those. /s. One of the reasons I got a Watch was for Apple Pay. I have a 5S and don’t want a 6. The growth in Apple Pay comes as the Apple Watch becomes more available. People have been wanting the Watch to be a failure that they lie and say Apple Pay is only available on new iPhones. I think one of the reasons is so many people said Apple would fail after Steve Jobs that if a product that he was not involved with is successful then they will be wrong.
As an early adopter with the iPhone 6 and now the Watch with Apple Pay I continually find myself going to merchants that use Apple Pay……The Watch makes it a lightning speed no-brainer.
Went to the supermarket the other day and the Manager asked why he hadn’t seen me and I told him straight out that two of his competitors took Apple Pay…….
The look on his face was “priceless”!!
I find myself doing the same. There’s just something about the simplicity of not having to mess with your wallet, to just point your phone and pay.
I just don’t get the reports of people using Apple Pay and then quitting. Why would anyone stop doing something that simple? I can only figure they had one experience where it didn’t work right and had no patience.
——RM
I’m in the UK and an ‘ApplePay Welcome Here’ sign has just appeared in the window of my local Coop convenience store. BTW the £30 limit on purchases is only a bank limit and can be much higher in individual stores.
I would use it every time I could, if it was available more places and made more obvious that it is accepted.
Who to believe? Who to believe?
MasterCard’s mobile payments chief or the driveling naysayers?
What a conundrum!
MasterCard’s mobile payments chief. Not because the drivelling naysayers are wrong—they could well be right, and McLaughlin dreaming; but because the naysayers go on and on and on, no matter what you say or believe. They are a cloud of gnats.
“We haven’t released that number”
Yea, if my numbers were below 60 million, I would say the same thing.
“We’re also analyzing where and how people are using Apple Pay with their MasterCard cards”
Um, wherever it is accepted. That’s the current restraint.
Restaurants and drive-throughs also need to get their act together.
“Very good sir, I’ll be back with your iPhone in a few minutes.”
Yea, that’s not going to work.
MDN – “Apple really ratchet up their efforts to get Apple Pay signage “Yes, we have Apple Pay!”
To their credit, Rite Aid is doing that. Even have a sign in the window when you walk in to the store.