Seven years ago, Apple unveiled Apple Pay on September 9, 2014. Now , a new surveys suggests that 6% of iPhone users in America use Apple Pay for in-store payments.
Seven years post-launch, new PYMNTS data shows that 93.9% of consumers with Apple Pay activated on their iPhones do not use it in-store to pay for purchases.
That means only 6.1% do.
That finding is based on PYMNTS’ national study of 3,671 U.S. consumers conducted between Aug. 3-10, 2021.
After seven years, Apple Pay’s adoption and usage isn’t much larger than it was 2015 (5.1%), a year after its launch, and is the same as it was in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic…
For consumers to use Apple Pay in the store, a merchant needed to accept contactless payment. That was 19% of U.S. merchants in 2015; it’s estimated to be 70% of merchants in 2021.
Consumers also had to have a particular model of iPhone to activate Apple Pay – the iPhone 6 or 6S. That was 39% of consumers with iPhones in 2015; today, that’s 96% of iPhone users. To provision a card in their Apple Pay wallet, the consumer’s bank needed to have an agreement in place with Apple Pay.
Those 2015 headwinds have largely been neutralized.
The one that remains seven years later is convincing more than just the early mobile payment adopters and Apple enthusiasts that Apple Pay solves a problem at the point of sale that using their plastic card does not…
That said, Apple Pay usage in store, to its credit, has remained steady, though small, while the other mobile wallets have shriveled. Most of the decline of the mobile wallet use in 2021 is related to the decline in use of the other “Pays” in store.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s not all bad news: Apple Pay today is the biggest in-store mobile wallet service, with 45.5% share of mobile wallet users. Over the last seven years, PYMNTS says that the total amount of Apple Pay transactions at U.S. retail stores has increased from an estimated $5 billion in 2015 to $90 billion in 2021.
This is a marathon, not a sprint.
We would use it more if Walmart would get off their high horse and allow contactless payments.
I use Apple Pay 90 – 95% of the time here in Canada – love not having to carry around additional physical cards every time I go out. 🍎 💚
One of the problem is that the US is still in the Stone Ages regarding financial transfers, whether it’s from bank account to bank account or from costumer to business. In Western Europe one can pay at 90 to 99 % of the stores with Apple Pay. In the US the percentage is almost diminishing. And even if the store has contactless payment, it still doesn’t guarantee Apple Pay is accepted. I hope this changes soon. Apple Pay is the safest and easiest way to pay.
Because its found so infrequently, I think people forget how it works and don’t want to think about it, and just whip out the old credit card.
Not where I Live.. Southern California. .. its pretty much available everywhere… and gas stations are slowly catching up too.
Hi our American comrades, pls hurry up proliferation of cardless payment. Electronic fund transfer at personal level is one of the few areas where little Canada excels over the U.S. of America. At gas stations, just pulling up to a pump automatically opens ApplePay in my pocket and all I have to do is scan QR code or type-in pump No., fill’er up and just walk away. When our border is open again, and tap payment becomes useful enough in the south of the border, I have many friends to visit.
It would be interesting for me to know how Canada stacks up. Here over 95% 0f stores accept contactless pay. Most people I know with iPhones use it.
Does anybody have stats?
In the last 5 years, I did not have to reach my wallet except for showing ID etc. COVID pandemic is making the tap payment even more useful. Apple pay for coffee/donut shop too. Tap, tap and away! If a store does not accept tap payment, I simply say thank you, walk away and find another one a few meters away.
Annnd, this is the reason I stick with touch ID no matter what. A happy SE2020 user, the last touch ID iPhone so far.
The Magic of ApplePay is when it is used through the AppleWatch!
I would like to see stats on what % of AppleWatch owners with ApplePay set up use them for in store payments…
I’ve used it everywhere it’s available. Found a place to use it to buy gas.
I even play my ATT bill with Apple Pay. Among others that are reacuring. Apple Cash keeps piling up.
Apple Pay is accepted in quite a few places. I use it as much as I can. Yes, there are stores that don’t take it…and even a few that are cash only, but hey, it’s a serious convenience when I can use it. So I do.
6% seems to indicate that most people are afraid to enter a card into their phone. Just so long as it doesn’t get pulled from service, us few who think differently will definitely benefit from this one.
In the UK, Apple Pay is available pretty well everywhere these days. One major supermarket, Tesco, insists on a low limit for Apple Pay in line with the limit for contactless payments. By an amazing coincidence, Tesco offer their own payment app which only works in their stores and has a very high limit.
Other supermarkets allow transactions up to whatever your bank account will support. Bottom line is that I do the bulk shopping at other supermarkets and only top up shopping at Tesco.
I live in a western US state and a major metro area. Using Apple Pay is painful here. Most stores have no idea what it is. Most people with iPhones or Apple Watches won’t even try anymore. I am practically the only person using Apple Pay, when available, out of everyone in my sphere.
Walmart is the only place I frequent here that does not take it. All the gas pumps have it, no matter the store. In the store also has it. Tractor Supply, Target, Publix, three different gun stores, two of my three doctor’s office, both vet offices, even the cat rescue thrift store accepts it. I don’t remember the last time I reached for my wallet. . . .
The cat rescue thrift store…no wonder.