12 Key Apple Pay Statistics

As a brand, Apple has long been known for innovative ideas and new technologies that have changed the way the digital world works. One release that has seemingly taken the world by storm was Apple Pay. Released in 2014, Apple Pay gives the iPhone more functionality, allowing users to turn their mobile devices into digital wallets. 

Today, we want to take a closer look at Apple Pay, so that you understand just how popular the service is. Therefore, we’ve listed 12 key Apple Pay statistics. Why you might ask? Well, using Apple Pay is seen as an effective, straightforward way to pay for transactions.

Whether it be used to pay for a weekly shop or a sit-down meal at a restaurant, Apple Pay was designed with convenience in mind.

However, aside from that, people don’t know that much about it. We’re going to change that today, so make sure you stick around if you want to learn more!

1. Apple Pay Has The Biggest Mobile Payment App Market Share In The U.S

We’ll start with a key statistic that probably won’t surprise you that much. In the United States, Apple Pay has the biggest share of the market, making it the most popular mobile payment service across the country. 

More than 43 million people in America have used Apple Pay at least once. The second most popular payment service in America has only been used by 32.2 million people. Surprisingly, that service is Starbucks.

This goes some way to show that Apple offers a much better service than the likes of Google and Samsung who both have a mobile payment service that isn’t as widely used.

(Source: Business of Apps)

2. 92% of All Mobile Wallet Payments In 2020 In America Were Made Using Apple Pay

Do you know how many mobile wallet payments were made in 2020 in the United States? The answer will probably surprise you. Astonishingly, more than two billion mobile wallet payments were made in 2020 alone.

This was an increase of 51% compared to 2019. Out of all the companies offering mobile payments, Apple benefited the most from this growth. Massively outperforming its competitors, Apple was responsible for 92% of all mobile payments that year.

To put into context just how impressive that number is, some of Apple’s biggest competitors were only responsible for 5% or less.

In fact, Google Pay was the chosen payment method for just 3% of mobile payment transactions. Apple’s biggest competitor Samsung did slightly better, being responsible for 5%.

This again goes to show how popular and frequently used Apple Pay is.

(Source: PULSE Network)

3. Apple Pay Is Responsible for 5% of All Transactions That Take Place Worldwide

Another impressive statistic that shows the power Apple Pay holds in the world is that Apple Pay accounts for 5% of all card transactions worldwide. This statistic is impressive because it shows that Apple Pay not only plays an important role in the world of mobile payments but that it also plays a part in global card transactions.

Recent studies and new research has even shown that this figure could rise as mobile payments become more and more popular. Future forecasts predict that the figure could in fact double to 10% by 2025. 

This is significant for Apple as they take a 0.15% cut of every transaction made using the service. Therefore, Apple Pay earns 15 cents for every 100 dollars spent. A Federal Reserve Payments Study in 2019 found that American citizens spent over $7 trillion via card transactions.

As a result, Apple’s 5% market share was worth more than $350 billion. This will have made the company approximately $525 million in transaction fees from a tiny 0.15% cut. 

(Source: 9To5Mac)

4. The Apple Pay User Base Grew By 66 Million In 2020

In November 2020, Statista released data that showed the increase in Apple Pay users. Not only that, but the survey also showed how the service user base has grown since 2016. This was an interesting survey that really highlighted the speed at which Apple Pay has grown. 

In just 2016, Apple Pay only had 67 million users. Fast forward four years and the service now has well over 500 million users. That’s a worldwide increase of more than 600%. We don’t know about you but that is pretty impressive.

This data can also be used to show how Apple Pay wasn’t actually that successful at launch. It could be argued that nobody would have seen this meteoric rise in popularity coming.

Even in the year leading up to 2020, Apple Pay grew ridiculously. In 2019, Apple Pay had approximately 441 million users. In the space of a year, this figure rose 15% to 507 million. That’s an increase of 66 million users worldwide. 

(Source: Statista)

5. Approximately 93% of American Smartphone Users Have Access To Apple Pay

Another great statistic that shows the success Apple Pay has experienced in recent years can be found in a Pymnts report. In 2015, only 39% of iOS device users could use the Apple Pay functionalities. 

In just five years, that number grew massively. Now, almost 93% of all iOS device users can access Apple Pay features. Whilst an increase in popularity is one of the main reasons for increased usage across the United States, the hard work Apple has put into updating its devices has also helped.

As older iOS devices have been phased out and replaced with newer models, more people have a device that offers Apple Pay functionality. With newer devices still being released regularly, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the figure reached 100% soon. Having said that, not everyone will switch from using more traditional card payments.

(Source: Pymnts)

6. More Than 16,500 Retail Industry Businesses Accept Apple Pay

Apple Pay stats show that over 16,500 businesses in the retail industry accept Apple Pay as a form of payment. Stats also show that the retail industry accounts for the service’s biggest market share. 

To put it into numbers, retail businesses account for 23% of all Apple Pay transactions. That’s a whopping 17% more than the second biggest, which happens to be the apparel and fashion industry with a share of 6%.

After that, we have the wholesale and manufacturing industry with under 3,000 businesses, and the consumer goods industry with roughly 2,391 businesses.

These are the top five industries that use Apple Pay. Between them, they take up most of the Apple Pay market. For those that are interested, Apple Pay is used by more than 71,000 businesses worldwide in total.

(Source: Enlyft)

7. Apple Pay Is Supported By More Than 5,400 Banks Worldwide

Next up, we have an interesting statistic that shows how highly thought of and well-backed Apple Pay is. According to the latest information, Apple Pay is supported globally by more than 5,400 banks. 

This number is a significant increase from where Apple Pay found itself in 2018. In 2018, Apple Pay was only supported by 2,707 banks. A year later in 2019, the service was supported by just over 4,000 banks. Now, the service is supported by more than 5,400.

This is a significant increase of just under 2,000 banks since 2018. This goes to show the rate at which Apple Pay is growing.

(Source: Loup Funds)

8. There Are 507 Million Apple Mobile Wallets In The World

Globally, there are more than 507 million Apple Pay wallets. Most Apple Pay wallets can be found in America, with the service also being extremely popular in the United Kingdom and across Europe.

When compared to the global mobile wallet figures, 507 million is incredibly high. Worldwide, there are approximately 2.3 billion mobile wallets. As you can probably imagine, having 507 million of them is quite significant.

However, Apple Pay isn’t the most popular service in the world. Chinese mobile payment services Ali Pay and WeChat have more users. AliPay has roughly 650 million users and WeChat has approximately 550 million users.

The main reason for this is the popularity of mobile wallet services in China. On top of that, more people in China use Android smartphones instead of iPhones.

(Source: Business of Apps)

9. 63% of British Consumers Used Apple Pay To Pay For A Service In Person

We head over the pond to the United Kingdom for our next Apple Pay statistic. 63% of British consumers have used Apple Pay to pay for a service or product in person. Alongside that, 27% of people have used Apple Pay to make a payment online. 

Interestingly, this is the exact same percentage of Americans that used Apple Pay to make an online payment. The portion of Americans that have used Apple Pay to make a transaction in person is smaller, with 56% of people doing so. Even Canada has a higher percentage of people making payments in person with 57% of people doing so. 

However, Canada’s share of consumers that paid for an online transaction using Apple Pay is just 22%

(Source: Statista)

10. More Than 48% of Worldwide iOS Users Activated Apple Pay In 2019

There must have been something in the air in 2019 as Apple Pay saw a huge spike in the total number of users that activated Apple Pay. To put into perspective how much of an increase this is, in 2016, just 9% of total iOS users activated Apple Pay on their devices. Even in 2018, only 33% of people activated the service. 

The increase of 48% accounts for approximately 441 million people. This is one of the main reasons why Apple Pay is now one of the biggest mobile wallet services in the world.

(Source: Statista)

11. There Are More Than 200,000 Websites In The USA That Accept Apple Pay

The penultimate statistic on this list is that more than 200,000 websites in America accept Apple Pay. This number is almost one-third of the total number of websites that accept the service. The total number of websites that accept Apple Pay is 608,613. 

The country that sits second with the highest number of websites that accept Apple Pay is the United Kingdom. The UK has 41,846 websites that accept Apple Pay. Canada then sits in third with 27,829 websites that take Apple Pay payments. 

Apple Pay statistics also show that just over 6% of websites come from the lifestyle industry. 3.5% comes from computer electronics, and 2.65% come from the food and drink industry.

(Source: SimilarTech)

12. Over 40% of American Consumers Own A Device That Supports Apple Pay

The final statistic we have for you is that 43.5% of American consumers own a device that will support Apple Pay. To use Apple Pay, a user must have an iPhone 6 or newer device. In 2015, the share of Apple users that fitted this criteria was just 39%. Today that figure is now 96%. 

At the same time, the percentage of businesses accepting Apple Pay has risen from 19% to 85%.

(Source: Apple)

Apple Pay Statistics – Frequently Asked Questions

Who Uses Apple Pay The Most?

Recent studies have shown that millennials tend to use mobile touchless payments more than anyone else. However, it is actually Gen Z iOS users that use Apple Pay the most. 

Is Apple Pay A Success?

Yes, it can be comfortably said that Apple Pay is a huge success. To have upwards of 75% of all iPhone users having Apple Pay activated on their device is pretty impressive. You can’t argue with the statistics and the statistics show that Apple Pay sits near the top of the mobile payment industry. 

How Many People Use Mobile Payments?

More and more people use mobile payments to pay for transactions. At the time of writing this, approximately 25.7% of people use their mobile payment services to pay for transactions. As the market continues to grow, so will this figure.

Does Apple Pay Have Any Problems?

Despite being one of the most popular and widely used mobile payment services, Apple Pay does have some issues. The main issue with Apple Pay is security related. Apple Pay is a secure payment service but it isn’t as secure as traditional debit and credit card payments.

In fact, a large proportion of Apple Pay users have actually fallen victim to identity theft. 

This is something that needs to be solved by Apple if they are to encourage more people to use the service.

Is Apple Pay Popular In Europe?

Yes, Apple Pay is extremely popular in Europe. Merchants right the way across Europe accept Apple Pay as a form of payment. In fact, Apple Pay can be accessed in 60 different European countries. The payment service is also super popular in the United Kingdom.

Which Country Uses The Most Digital Payments?

As of last year, China is the country that uses the most digital payments. Approximately 900 million people used digital payment transactions in China. The total transaction value of digital transactions in the country this year is forecast to be somewhere in the region of £3,225 billion.

As a result, China is widely regarded as the leading country in the financial technology industry.

In Conclusion

Apple Pay is a service that continues to grow in popularity globally. While it may not be the biggest mobile wallet service in the world, it certainly takes up most of the market outside of China. 

The release of new iOS devices, combined with the support of more banks and businesses has seen Apple Pay rise dramatically in usage in the last four years. As the mobile wallet market continues to grow, it won’t be a surprise if Apple Pay continues to grow with it.

This article has provided you with 12 key Apple Pay statistics. You should now know a lot more about how Apple Pay performs. Who knows, these statistics may even have encouraged you to start using Apple Pay.