Apple Pay usage grew 50% last year, says analytics report, as it shows most popular retailers

While Apple doesn’t reveal much in the way of specifics about usage of Apple Pay, consumer spending analytics company TXN has pulled some data from a panel of over three million consumers. It says that analysis of credit card bills from banks which distinguish Apple Pay transactions suggest that usage of the payment method grew by slightly over 50% in the 12 months ending December 2016.

The company also revealed the most popular bricks and mortar retailers and websites among Apple Pay users …

For retail stores, Duane Reade and Whole Foods lead the way, Apple Pay accounting for 1.8% and 1.7% of their transactions respectively. All other retailers have Apple Pay transaction volumes of less than 1%, according to a chart shared by TXN (below).

Usage in mobile apps and websites was higher, with HotelTonight leading at around 3.4%, followed by food delivery services Caviar, Postmates and DoorDash.

Apple recently revealed that some 35% of US retailers now support Apple Pay, totalling some 4M locations, though the payment platform’s lead exec declined to reveal transaction figures. However, Tim Cook stated during the Q4 earnings call in October that Apple Pay transactions were up 500% year-on-year.

The difference between the two numbers may be due to Apple and TXN measuring usage in different ways, as well as the different reporting periods. Apple will be measuring the actual number of transactions, while TXN is talking about the percentage of all credit card transactions made using Apple Pay. It is, however, worth noting that TXN’s number-crunching is an inexact science: it can only pull data from its own panel of card users, and not all banks distinguish Apple Pay transactions from card ones.

Apple Pay’s expansion continues, with more banks supporting the platform in the USA and elsewhere this month – as well as greater acceptance in vending machines. There are still some retailer holdouts, though, with Target yesterday announcing that it would be rolling out its own mobile wallet system, suggesting that it won’t be expanding its acceptance of Apple Pay online to its physical stores.

Via Business Insider