Survey: Only 6% of U.S. iPhone Users Who Set Up Apple Pay Actually Use It

[fischersd]

I stopped carrying my wallet about 8 months ago. The few holdouts that we had for contactless payments enabled it in their machines due to Covid.

I really wish the banks would get their head out of their a*s and remove the tap limit for Apple Pay - it's every bit as secure as chip + pin - no reason for purchase limits (the banks currently limit it to $250 per transaction up here). Vendors/merchants can also have their own limits below that.

Oh - and contactless for the ATMs already - make it happen!!!

 

[trip1ex]

Let's be clear... neither method can be described as "difficult"

But using a credit card requires two hands... one to hold your wallet and the other for grabbing your card. Then you insert the card in the slot... and press a bunch of buttons on a dirty machine while still holding your wallet.

Usually I just have to enter my 4-digit PIN on the card reader... but many stores are asking for all sorts of input now:

"Is this a debit card?"
"Yes/No"
"Enter PIN"
"Is the amount OK?"
etc...

Or I can grab my iPhone from my pocket with one hand and place it near the reader... double-tap the button... DING... and I'm done.

Yes... masks can mess up this process somewhat. And some stores ask for a PIN when using Apple Pay. But I'd still rather use Apple Pay than a card.

But that's just me.

It is 1-hand if you have your credit cards in a money clip in your front pocket and use a no contact terminal. No double tap even. Your default card goes on the outside of the stack. You can have a second default card on the other side of the stack.

 

[ilikewhey]

Apple Pay is not the same thing as Apple Card

i wasn't comparing my other cards to apple card.

 

[fischersd]

Not surprised at all. It’s marginally more convenient than using a card.

You really need to get an Apple Watch. Nothing marginal about how much more convenient it is to pay with your watch.

 

[fischersd]

It is 1-hand if you have your credit cards in a money clip in your front pocket and use a no contact terminal. No double tap even. Your default card goes on the outside of the stack. You can have a second default card on the other side of the stack.

Money clip? Oh...right...for the strippers? Who carries cash anymore?

 

[ilikewhey]

Sooooo add those cards to Apple Pay?

why, taking off my mask to authentic seems more hassle than whipping my other credit cards which offer more cashback.

 

[simmi99]

Does the survey include the watch in with the iPhone? I use the watch all the time.

 

[ilikewhey]

I have 6 credit cards stored in my Apple Wallet. When I use them from within my Wallet I still receive the rewards. For example. I have the Amex Blue which gives 6% back for groceries. When I go to the grocery, I pay using the Apple Pay (contactless payments) and select my Amex card. When I review the statements, that card was correctly categorized as paid to the grocery and I can see that it has been credited the 6% back.

I'd encourage you to try something similar, Apple Pay is much safer and easier than carrying (for me 6) additional cards around.

i hear you, i just don't wanna remove my mask everytime it needs to authenticate, plus it gets annoying when apple pay times out when the cashier doesn't know what to do.

 

[Flight Plan]

Because the media has managed to brainwash the older population into thinking PHONE =BAD/UNSECURE. Regardless of how the technology actually yis.

The problem isn't the "old fuddy-duddys", and you might reconsider your assumptions.

There are some old farts who can outwit the younger generation in all ways tech. Some of 'em used to write code in the old days, when coding was like crossing the Sahara. Today's scroll-bar jockying is nothing!

• You might say that youth has on its side beauty, enthusiasm, and physical strength.
• But old people have experience in pain, sadness, strife, and treachery. They've been through a World War, and maybe a Great Depression or two, so they can dish it out at will, but are very good at hiding it behind that sweet grandma face that used to make your favorite cookies when you were little. 😏

I think you might be double pressing too slowly? It requires a fairly deliberate and rapid double click.

Rapid double-click. No, faster than that.

And don't forget, both Apple Watch and iPhone offer a way to configure your double-click speed. No, you Google it, I'm too tired right now. What, do you want me to come over to your house and set it up for you too?

Neither Lowes nor HomeDepot take AP - I whine everytime

I am going to start complaining on their websites with emails to management.

Maybe privacy ? This is the reason why I’m not using it.

Huh, what?

...and then...

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

People really don't read anything before they comment.

...oh, yep; that's EXACTLY what happened there!

So what you're saying is that Roberosh needs to read more. 🤭

Yes Target has Apple Pay. Sam's Club in your case may be better as they have scan and go, but they don't have Apple Pay. Costco has Apple Pay but only accepts Visa cards, which means no Apple Card usage there at all.

Thank you for that. I don't want Sam's Club tracking me, so maybe I'll try Costco instead.

Hint hint: See what you're doing, Sam's Club? Possibly losing business!

Not Home Depot

I buy more stuff from Amazon now simply BECAUSE Home Depot, Lowes, and Walmart/Sam's Club don't take Apple Pay.

Hint Hint: Losing my business!

Oh my God, that's funny. I saw shades of "Al Bundy" in that clip; so great.

"And that was the first time I every used the F-word!"

But yes to Publix LOL LOL

But the cashiers, when Covid began, told me that Publix wouldn't keep Apple Pay; that it was only because of Covid.

Hint Hint: Publix, I spend as much as $800 to 1,000 per month in your stores. Don't make it more difficult for me to shop with you!

In many places it’s just habit as I have my card ready while I’m waiting in line to pay. Other places like restaurants I never use Apple Pay because most places take your card with the check folder or tray. I’ve never actually been to a restaurant where the server came to the table with a terminal for me to use Apple Pay and given the choice between walking to the register to pay vs the server doing it for me, the card wins every time.

But you have to start asking. I do.

Also drive thru are a huge point of friction for Apple Pay. There is no way I am dangling my phone out the car window to use it, and my watch is on my right hand so that’s a no-go as well. It’s basically a “nice to have, but backup payment system.”

I wear my Apple Watch almost 24/7. It allows me to track my sleep, but more importantly, lets me answer a call even when I'm out cold. So to keep the band from wearing off my skin, I swap the watch every couple/few days to the other hand.

So I get your challenge with drive-thru windows and having the watch on the wrong hand. But when was the last time you drove RIGHT UP TO THE WINDOW and were first in line? Never, right? So there's always time to move the watch to the correct hand, re-inter the security code, and double-tap the button to bring up the Apple Pay display.

Or you can get your card out like you do now; that's fine too.

 

[x-evil-x]

Wow! That’s extremely low. I think people are just not educated enough to get to use Apple Pay.

Educated enough? More like they forget to use it.

 

[falainber]

That description and a lost card would make a great ad for Apple Pay.

Apple Pay needs something way more substantial than that because obviously this thing alone is not working.

 

[falainber]

Wow! That’s extremely low. I think people are just not educated enough to get to use Apple Pay.

Why do you think they are not educated? What if it is in reverse - Apple Pay users are not educated? The simple truth is that credit cards work just fine. Apple is not solving some big problem here. In fact they skim some from the regular credit card fees thus making transactions more expensive which in turn should cause increase of credit card fees.

 

[flightime56]

No use is simple, face ID, and no fingerprint ID on the iPhone 12. I want instant access to my phone, face ID works, then doesn't work, I hate it... no face ID, no use for Apple Pay...

 

[TallManNY]

Ha, I wonder how skewed this is from Covid. I'm still working from home full time. I'm not sure how many times in that August period that I actually was outside my home and bought something. I got a ton of stuff delivered to my house, sure. I'm not leaving the house to go to work and I'm not meeting up with friends to eat or drink indoors, so I'm rarely walking by stores.

 

[Complex757]

I'm shocked at this. I wish more places let me use it(Kroger [cough]).

I just got back from Trader Joe's where I used it.

 

[TroyBoy30]

Never use it

 

[Henry S]

I use it at any B&M store that takes contactless payments. I wish I could use it more to get the 2% rebate from my Apple Card, but relatively few online sellers take it; PayPal still dominates in that sphere.

 

[SFjohn]

i hear you, i just don't wanna remove my mask everytime it needs to authenticate, plus it gets annoying when apple pay times out when the cashier doesn't know what to do.

An Apple Watch will solve that issue. I’m sure you can find a used one inexpensively that will look & work perfectly. It’s much faster than going for a card, and you have no need to take off your mask. I think that’s the whole point of the Apple Watch, it really frees you from being so dependent on getting your iPhone out all the time. The time you save is priceless.

 

[demodave]

Maybe bringing back fingerprint ID would help.

I think they need an under screen fingerprint reader on the watch. Seems like a total no-brainer.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple Pay on my watch is easily the most convenient way of taking public transport. I see myself continuing to use an Apple Watch (and by extension, an iPhone) just for this feature alone.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Since there are many comments here saying "Apple Pay doesn't do anything special" or "it's no different than using a card"

I guess we're forgetting one big thing... tokenized transactions.

This is where the store doesn't get your actual credit card number:

Tokenization is used to replace the Primary Account Number (PAN, or the credit card number) with a token. A token looks like a normal credit card number, but it’s not the original PAN. Tokenization stops the original card number from being used during transactions.

Tokens have no meaning by themselves and are worthless to criminals if a token is stolen. There is no algorithm to derive the Primary Account Number if you have a token. This makes it impossible for criminals to reverse engineer the Primary Account Number from a token.

Remember all those stores who had data breaches where customer data and credit card info was stolen?

Hmmm... Apple Pay is lookin' mighty fine...

 

[Knavel]

US is way behind. Here in the Netherlands since COVID started contactless payments via smartphones have ballooned. I hardly use my debitcard ("betaalpas") or creditcard physically in shops anymore. Specially if you have an Apple Watch it's so easy to pay.

Same, I have actually never paid any other way in the Netherlands since the start of corona. Applepay works everywhere. I also see other people using it very commonly - not as often as with the physical pinpas but it's starting to get close.

However when I'm in the USA I don't even try anymore, because I've had so many experiences where it wouldn't work or the cashier thought I was trying to trick them or something.

 

[miamialley]

That's a lot lower than I would have thought. I'm figuring a small % of users account for a large % of transactions...like the 80/20 rule.

 

[robfoll]

Crazy Low figure, here in Melbourne almost every outlet supports it and I use Apple Pay for 99% of all retail transactions with my phone and watch. More recently using with web browsers for online purchases. Amazingly convenient, secure and with a good audit trail. What's a credit card?

 

[Nicky G]

I bet it's higher in European countries that have had chip + pin & contactless longer than the US. I use Apple Pay all the time with my watch, the only time I use card is with petrol pumps as they're not contactless yet. I just wish Apple Pay Cash and the Apple Card would launch in the UK soon!

The US basically had chip (no pin) and contactless arrive on cards at the same time. Consumers had to digest not one but two new ways of using the plastic cards we've swiped for decades. I think a lot of the less tech-inclined public just kind of figured chips were the new way to do cards, and have not really explored contactless payments much at all, much less contactless on smartphone. I would expect all of this to change a lot by 2025.