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Apple Pay claimed 1% of November’s digital payment dollars, new report says

Apple Pay issues

A new report from ITG has revealed that Apple Pay was responsible for 1% of the total digital payment dollars spent in November. The study also found that 60% of new Apple Pay customers used the service multiple times throughout the month, while competing services like PayPal see only 20% of customers do the same.

Additionally, the research found that shoppers who took advantage of Apple Pay used the service for around 5.3% of their future credit card transactions, accounting for about 2.3% of the total dollars spent on their credit cards.

On average, Apple Pay users used the NFC-powered payment system 1.4 times each week. At businesses where they had previously used Apple Pay, 66% of customers used it again on subsequent visits.

As for which businesses were seeing the most Apple Pay usage, ITG determined that Whole Foods came out on top, with a whopping 1/5 of all Apple Pay purchases being made at the market. Those Whole Foods payments accounted for 28% of all Apple Pay dollars being spent.

Walgreens came in at a close second for payment percentages, with 19% of Apple Pay transactions happening in the popular drugstore chain. However, a much larger gap existed between Walgreens and Whole Foods in the second metric, with Walgreens only bringing in 12% of all Apple Pay dollars.

Source: ITG

Source: ITG

Overall, the top five businesses taking Apple Pay, which included McDonald’s, Panera Bread, and Subway in the last three spots, took in 58% of the total Apple Pay transactions conducted in November, though less than half of the total dollars spent through the service went to those outlets.

It’s clear that Apple Pay is making inroads with general consumers that other payment services just haven’t been able to keep up with.

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Comments

  1. Taste_of_Apple - 9 years ago

    Not too shabby in a such a short amount of time. Just the beginning of something much bigger.

  2. 89p13 - 9 years ago

    Big Brick and Mortar Stores, who have backed CurrentC . . .

    Hello – Are You Reading This????

    Of course not because you were sold a bill of goods that was based on making more profit, not serving your customers! Wal-Mart and all you other clowns – The writing on the wall is getting DARKER. Your Alternative payment plan isn’t in line with the discretionary spending you so mightily crave.

    Oh well – I won’t go into a Wal-Mart anyway!

  3. standardpull - 9 years ago

    Samsung will be catching up quickly. Recent reports rumor that within the next few months Samsung is going to produce its very own flagship smartphone to replace its waning Galaxy series.

    The new Samsung phone is said to have a mag stripe-compatible payment system which, unlike Apple Pay, will support of the massive number of near-obsolete mag stripe terminals in the field. Samsung may even couple this technology with a built-in iris scanner, which when pointed at the eye of the payer, would induce the Samsung to generate a positive confirmation tone that the retailer can hear, eliminating the need for a signature and giving the retailer assurance of authenticity.

    High penetration and high security. This could be THE Apple Pay killer.

    Such technology could propel Samsung back into the top-tier smartphone market.

    • jedwards87 - 9 years ago

      I just woke up, but surely you are kidding. New regulations are going to require merchants to replace their mag stripe systems and I will laugh at people holding their phones up to their eyes for verification. It is all about user experience and Apple has done it right with Apple Pay. Samsung is lost and grasping at straws.

      • standardpull - 9 years ago

        I think you are confused by the industry changes.

        You are wrong – there are no regulatory changes. The only change is that some credit card companies are going to change their policy such that within the next several years some merchants will be responsible for the fraud that happens at their mag stripe terminals instead of the card company or the customer. There is no regulation requiring removal of mag stripe equipment or cards from service. The rumored Samsung iris scanner will give the merchant high confidence that the card holder is legit due to the confirmation tone generated by the MagEye iris scanner built into the next generation Samsung.

        It’s pretty cool for merchants, customers and card companies. And clearly is catching Apple flat-footed.

      • standardpull - 9 years ago

        And to your very first point: yes.

    • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

      I sincerely hope you are joking and just forgot to put a /s at the end of your “comment”, because if you were serious, it shows COMPLETE lack of understanding of the changes incoming to USA credit card and merchant tech, and also that you’re a complete Scamsung wet blanket.

      • standardpull - 9 years ago

        Whoa. Hold on. Please remember that there are millions that have bought a Samsung and have loyalty to the brand. These people paid good money for their device only to find that it’s quality and function is lacking. They are very sad and upset.

        They need hope. They need something that they can dream about without destroying their idea that they made a smart choice. And they need someone else to give them that hope because they are so full of doubt.

        I have given them that hope. I know it is ridiculous. Iris scanner? Mag stripe? I am just parroting the news and letting people know that maybe it is cool. Sure, I think it’s extremely stupid. But these are people that bought a Samsung. Their thought processes are weaker. Just ask Herb.

        Give them a nice Christmas present – let them know that this mag stripe thing might be cool. Even if it sounds dumb to put your phone up to your eye and have it beep to pay for something.

    • 1sugomac - 9 years ago

      I heard samsung’s new flagshit phone will also support FAX and have a Bluray drive. And they added a second stylus.

  4. Scott Davis - 9 years ago

    Since Staples was hacked and had CC stolen, my question is shouldn’t Apple show how their ApplePay customers of that retailer is being protected by the security of Tokenization.

  5. Andy Southern - 9 years ago

    I expect to see Jennifer Lawrence’s credit card details in the next Hacking scandal then.

    Would I trust Apple with financial details? -NO.

    I’ve been using Barclaycard Contactless payments for years, and can’t see why I would need Apple to pry on my spending habits.

    Still, I guess Apple must now have the US Patent as they developed this last month, far before anyone in the US used Contactless payments!

    Welcome to the new Millenium America, Europe has grown tired of Signatures, Chip and Pin and NFC many many years ago,

    -AS

    • Dave Huntley - 9 years ago

      Apple’s system is different from chip and pin, more convenient and arguably more secure. The banks certainly think so which is why they all jumped on it.

      Contactless payments have been in north america for some time, not just the UK, but lets face it I can steal you card and tap up to floor limit anywhere, and thats not safe. Apple has your card and the thumbprint – that is your authorization to use it, in one convenient package, the phone.

      So chip and pin is NOT the same, even when tapping up to 50$ and such everywhere.

      • andysuth - 9 years ago

        Honestly, never had a request for a pin whilst in North America. I found the lack of security completely bizarre and at odds with other aspects of US life.

        As to the Barclaycard contactless payments being open to theft, there are limits in transactions.

        I’ve lived in some pretty rough areas of UK and never been robbed. Closest was someone scamming into a phone banking transaction. This was reversed and refunded after one phone call and no money even list by the bank.

        We’re pretty secure.

        Anyway, contactless payments over two years ago. That’s why I’m impressed with apples google wallet clone.

      • iphonenick (@iphonenick) - 9 years ago

        Canadian financial institutions and merchants adopted chip/pin years ago, so at least one country in North America get’s it. I was shocked that not one merchant I visited in Florida in November had chip-enabled terminals and guess what, my card was compromised and a charge from a Walmart in Austin Texas appeared on my statement. Oh the irony. My card issuer reversed the charges.

    • standardpull - 9 years ago

      With Samsung’s Iris scanner, we can expect mobile payments to be extremely secure. Just holding up the phone to your eye and waiting for the confirmation beep that can be heard by the merchant will be a nearly unbreakable and secure payment system. Touch ID and NFC? Not even close to the confirmation beep that guarantees transactional integrity. Apple innovation? Not so much.

      • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

        Please tell me you’re just /s trolling…

      • andysuth - 9 years ago

        I’m not convinced that beeps can’t be replicated, or that holding anything in front of your eye is a practical motion.

        Apple iPhone (3g?) Finger scanner was the reason for the delay to that model. Its almost flawless and doesn’t need multiple fingerprints registering “just in case” nor does it ask for a pin if it can’t identify the fingerprints in the system.

        Sorry, not convinced on either Apple or Samsung claims.

    • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

      Please don’t speak if you don’t have any intelligent comments to make, because you obviously don’t know jack about how Pay works, the benefits it affords consumers, and Apple’s privacy and security policy behind it.

      • andysuth - 9 years ago

        True, all I know is iPhone 5 users showing me their brilliant new fingertip scanners for unlock trying 2 or 3 times / fingers before entering a pin number and explaining “there’s a pin as a backup as this only happens 25% of the time….”

        That and the security measures at Apple are so strong that all celebrity owners are safe to store credit card numbers AND naked selfies in Apple devices(!).

        If a payment is above the £20 limit for contactless payments then I’m fine using my chip and pin.

      • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

        Again another comment full of misinformation and general FUD…

        The error rate of Touch ID is much LOWER than 25%; I support a fleet of Touch ID-equipped devices, and their owners report nearly no read failures, myself included. And if you look at the junk technology from Samsung, there’s no comparison.

        And it’s quite amusing you bring up the celebrity nude photo scandal, but skew it to make it seem like only iCloud was impacted (just like all MS media are doing), when in fact Blackberry and Android devices were also on the affected list. The attack was social-engineering at it’s core, and simply took advantage of typical end-user stupidity to gain access to the needed accounts. That was not an attack confined to Apple, so please stop deluding yourself, and spreading that crap to others, as your just performing the deeds of click bait media outlets.

        You sound like the reporter from the recent BBC smear piece against electronics manufacturing companies, which neglected to mention that not only Apple employs their services, but made it seem like it was only Apple who is responsible.

        I advise you to just shut up now, because everything you say just makes you sound even more ignorant of reality, and anti-Apple without any substance to back up your BS.

      • andysuth - 8 years ago

        25% failure rate is catastrophic.
        20% failure rate is catastrophic.
        I wonder why you didn’t say “below 20%”?

      • andysuth - 9 years ago

        All I know is what I’ve seen. I stand by the 25% failure rate as a CONSERVATIVE number.

        I’ve had enough friends show me their new unlock fingerprints mode, only to have to use a standard boring pin.

        ICloud problems: what was Kirsten Dunsts response to her topless images on the internet? “Thanks Apple….”.

        What would she have paid not to have her photos on the internet? More than the protected transaction through iPay no doubt. So why would Apple have lower security on I pay than the iCloud?

        Truth them with my card details -not on your life!!!!!

        And stop being so defensive. I’ve criticised Samsung /Google and I own an iPad. If you can’t be critical of large companies without being described as Anti Apple.

        Grow up. Aren’t you critical of businesses?

      • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

        Grow up? How about you go shove it? I am critical of business, even Apple, IF they are at fault, and while they were hit by the scandal, they were not the ONLY ones, and the vulnerability used was based much more on user stupidity with weak passwords than it was their infrastructure. Again, how many celebrities got hacked? You’re referencing just ONE SINGLE CELEBRITY with an iPhone and then basing your whole premise on it being solely Apple’s fault, and that no other device platform got hacked?

        I cannot WAIT to start using Pay when it comes to Canada, because compared to the alternatives, and I mean ALL OF THEM, it’s 10x better and safer! Just because you’re biased and can’t see past what MS media feeds you, doesn’t mean everyone else is that blind.

      • andysuth - 9 years ago

        Yes, Mr angry pants, I’ve referenced one celebrity based on her feedback.

        You however have failed to mention one from any of the other brands who were hacked.

        Sorry my friend, you are too angry to be critical of your own argument.

        Feel free to start referencing which brands appear in which photos to justify your argument about “all brands were hacked”.

        Please also note I’ve not said I’d trust the google Samsung or BlackBerry payment systems when they emerge.

        Kind regards,

        Andy Suth…..

      • andysuth - 9 years ago

        “Conservative” as in I saw a lot more failure to unlock than 1:4……

  6. Dave Huntley - 9 years ago

    I realize the Samsung buffs are jumping with joy, however Samsung says it will take no revenue, which is not always a good thing as a bank as it means you may not engage liability. Apples system is safe, which is why with less loss from fraud they are happy to share their %
    Samsung not only misses out of the momentum, after all how many systems are their now and likely only a couple will dominate, but really, as a free service it is somewhat throw away.

    Without dealing directly with the bank, why would they allow anyone to become a middleman in their transaction process? It makes no sense.

  7. “It’s clear that Apple Pay is making inroads with general consumers that other payment services just haven’t been able to keep up with.”

    So, let me get this straight.. having a 0.2% share of electronic in-store transactions for your #1 contributor is now ‘making inroads’ .. The article has the usual Apple trick of ‘spin the better looking numbers of a subset as if their the main thing’ all over it while in fact the numbers show a horrific start of the service where the top 5 contributors are good for a whopping 0.58% of all transactions.

    Then the numbers show that there was a repeat use by 66% of those using it. So the unique number of people using Apple pay is even smaller. I find the attempt to spin this into something good admirable, but it’s a dud folks. a big fat dud.

    • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

      Another anti-Apple idiot, and your comment is full of dud.

      • So, please point out where what I wrote is incorrect.. And I mean about the numbers as I am free to have and voice my opinion about how IMO they are misrepresented.

      • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

        How about you “Google” it for yourself? I’m not going to waste my time doing research for you…

      • Paul – you could be completely pro-Apple but if you don’t agree with what Edison says then he will call you an anti-apple troll/shill/scum/tramp/idiot/clown/pleb.

        That’s how he rolls I’m afraid.

      • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

        Says the idiot who professes right in his alias to be a troll? Go back to your school of trolls, you suck at it.

      • The number so not lie, the number in the article are correct. The number in the article are also misrepresented to make it appear as if they tell a story of success while in actuality they show us that Apple Pay is not making a dent, it’s not even scratching the surface really.

        You seem to be of a different opinion, yet have no grounds or facts to back that opinion up. Instead you choose to immediately put me in the anti-Apple corner where you know absolutely nothing about me and continue to be what seems to be fairly uninformed and just out to bash anyone talking bad about anything Apple.

        Seeing how you seem to also not be able to formulate an actual English sentence without the need for name calling or more baseless drivel I must assume the sentiment of you falling in the troll category must be fairly close to the truth. At least you seem to feel the need to justify (to yourself) your choices as far as going with Apple go. You insecure much?

  8. andysuth - 9 years ago

    OK read report.

    Apple Pay accounts for 1/4 the number of payments of Google Wallet. 1 in 9 Apple pay payments where made in McDonalds.

    Is McDonald’s a low end food emporium like it is here in UK? Wow, iPhones target market seems to be widening a bit(!)