CNET:
UK-based analyst Juniper Research released a new study today that showed the number of “contactless” Apple Pay users nearly doubled with the total number of Apple Pay users reaching 86 million by the end of 2017. Android Pay (Google) and Samsung Pay usage also had big increases in usage. However, according to the study, Apple was expected to dominate the contactless payment market over the next 4 years.
Take these studies with a grain of salt but (having never used the alternatives) I’ve found Apple Pay on my phone, even for internet transactions, frighteningly easy and compelling to use.
I was recently on a drive across the US Midwest, and stopped several times at convenience stores along the way. None took Apple Pay, but there was one that looked like it might, maybe, from the iconography on the terminal. When I took out my phone, the clerks were not sure if it would work…that they HAD seen some people successfully do so, but as far as they knew they didn’t have Apple Pay. It didn’t work. I’m assuming that what they actually saw was SAMSUNG Pay, which has the technology to use the existing card readers.
Even know in California (one of the medium sized cities), most places don’t accept any NFC payment (Ikea, Target, mom and pop shops, etc.). Even if what this says is true, the uptake is still painfully slow so I almost never use it.