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Apple Pay grabs 50% of McDonald’s tap-to-pay transactions, gives retailers hope for future of mobile payments

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Apple only released its mobile payment system to the public last month, but the feature is already gaining traction at many retail outlets according to the New York Times. New numbers from retailers that accept Apple Pay show that the public is jumping on board with the system in a big way

Walgreens, for example, says that since the release of Apple Pay, the number of mobile transactions conducted in its stores has doubled. Whole Foods says it has seen over 150,000 Apple Pay transactions since the iOS 8.1 update was released.

McDonald’s has also seen a rush by customers to give the new tech a try, noting that an impressive 50% of its tap-to-pay transactions since the release of iOS 8.1 came from Apple Pay.

Other mobile payment solutions like Google Wallet and Softcard have previously noted that they also got a bit of a bump in usage after many new retailers rolled out NFC support to enable Apple Pay. However, the Times points out that mobile payments still only account for a small (albeit, slowly increasing) percentage of overall transactions in the United States, with consumers spending only $37 billion through such services last year (compared to $24 billion the previous year).

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Comments

  1. Taste_of_Apple - 9 years ago

    I love using Apple Pay so I’m not shocked.

  2. dudester (@mister_studz) - 9 years ago

    Exactly what percentage of mcdonald’s OVERALL TRANSACTIONS are tap to pay?….Less than 1% i bet.

    Yet 9-to-5-mac runs a sensationalist headline implying 50% of mcdonalds customers are using apple pay…

    Apple pay doesn’t even exist outside of USA yet..

    This article made me unsub from 9-to-5 notifications, and stop reading this site altogether….you are obviously being subsidized by Tim Cook for a pro-apple/iDevice universe.

    I typed this on my mac mini, but im no iSheep.

    Apple pay has a LONG LONG way to go before it is proven…like get to another country besides USA for starters.

    • vikramis007 - 9 years ago

      What are you talking bout? They clearly say it is 50% of tap to pay customers in the headline. Also, Tap to pay has existed for quite a long time now. If Apple Pay has taken over HALF of that already in a really short span, it does mean a lot to retailers. You probably might wanna do your math. The probability is really high on this one. Thanks.

      On the other hand, if you’re not too good at math, this will help you:

      Let us take your ASSUMPTION for granted: “Exactly what percentage of mcdonald’s OVERALL TRANSACTIONS are tap to pay?….Less than 1% i bet.”

      Tap to Pay was accepted in most of McDonald’s stores in Fall 2011.
      3 years down the line, it took 1% of overall transaction in McDonald’s

      Apple Pay was introduced and accepted in most McDonald’s stores in mid September 2014
      1 month down the line, it took 50% of Tap to Pay transactions which makes 0.5% of overall transactions (according to you)

      Growth Rate:
      Tap to Pay = 0.02% of overall transactions per month
      Apple Pay = 0.5%% of overall transaction per month

      That makes Apple Pay 25 (TWENTY FIVE) times better than Tap to Pay

      and don’t go full retard saying there are tiny errors because I know that. But 25 times +/- even an unfair 5 units is still way better than Tap to Pay.

      Next time, do your homework before talking bullshit. Also, this post was really good. Props to 9to5mac for it! :D

  3. windlasher - 9 years ago

    I love it when a plan comes together….

    • herb02135go - 9 years ago

      … and succeeds half of the time?
      That’s what’s going on here. Half of those who are using these transactions are NOT using Apple Pay.

      There are millions of people, like me, who have used a Samsung/Google version of this since way before Apple got on board.

      • nsxrebel - 9 years ago

        You do know that contactless payments have been in used for a decade or longer right? Google didn’t invent it, you know that right?

        And if you didn’t read the reports, only since Apple Pay’s debut, did the number of Google Wallet users double. Google won’t even release numbers for how many downloads for Google Wallet there have been, or much less, how many active users there are.

        Just because there are more Android users out there, doesn’t mean there are more Google Wallet users. Remember, only the high end Android phones are NFC capable.

        So if Apple Pay is grabbing 50% of contactless payments now, that means not many people are using Google Wallet as you suggest.

        I’ll do some simple math for you, so you get the picture.

        McDonalds has 1,000,000 contactless transactions.

        50% are Apple Pay, so that means 500,000 transactions are Apple Pay

        That leaves 500,000 transactions left for Google Wallet and Softcard transactions.
        Of those 500,000 transactions, how many are Google Wallet, and how many are Softcard and other chip & pin enabled cards?

        Whatever the number, you can bet it’s less than Apple Pay, but Google won’t say, because they KNOW that their numbers are low, much lower that you’re suggesting.

        I’ve only used Apple Pay, at McDonalds and Walgreens. I’m not much of a shopper, but I look forward to using it more often.

      • You must be some kind of shill?

        You fail to take into account that ApplePay has only been available for a couple of weeks and it’s only available on Apple’s 2 newest devices. And yet, they STILL captured 50% of contactless payments at McDonald’s. This is a testament to how valuable Apple’s user base is, and why Android is merely an after thought. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been able do it on your Android device, what matters is who really cares about you as a consumer, and so far, the user base you’re a part of has proven to be fairly worthless. And I’d like to note that this doesn’t have anything to do with affluence, it’s about which users are more engaged with the platform. A vast majority of Android users aren’t, they’re just people who own an Android device that barely use it for anything other than as a phone.

        Furthermore, Google Wallet is available on iOS as well as NFC adapters and cases, so I’m not sure why you think you’re special? The fact of the matter is, most features that you think were offered on Android first, were actually offered on iOS through 3rd party software and peripherals.

  4. And since the Apple Watch is compatible with Apple Pay and the 5-series iPhone they should expect another usage bump.

    Apple Pay will be the killer app going forward. Just waiting for Apple to release a PayPal-like feature so I can start accepting payments through my website and dump PayPal for good.

    • Except PayPal charges only 1.9 to 3.5% and Apple will want to charge you 30%.

      PayPal is generally great. The only people I’ve ever seen really complain about them are folks running scams.

      PayPal sure beats the PITA processors like Kagi and Esellerate that so many people used to use (not to mention maybe a dozen others). If you go Payments Pro you can fully integrate and people don’t even need to know that PayPal is processing on your back end.

      • lkernan - 9 years ago

        And the ebay sellers who get ripped off because Paypal sides with the buyer even when presented with proof of shipping.

      • nsxrebel - 9 years ago

        You’re an idiot. Apple Pay only takes 0.15% from every transaction, and they take their cut from Visa/Mastercard/AmEx. That’s ZERO POINT FIFTEEN percent, NOT 15%, for those that don’t know the difference.

    • Fallenjt JT - 9 years ago

      Apple Watch is compatible with 5 series iPhone but there’s no Apple Pay since there’s no NFC chip in 5/5s.

      • robertsm76 - 9 years ago

        the Apple watch will contain the NFC chip and enable the 5 series iphones to use Apple Pay

  5. jimgramze - 9 years ago

    Good information in the article, but please stop using the term “Tap to Pay”. There is no tapping involved, no touching involved, except for interaction with your mobile device. This implies that your device has to physically touch the payment terminal which could lead to damage.

  6. Marklewood at Serenity Lodge - 9 years ago

    Too many banks are still “researching” and have not yet opted in for their customers.