The number of Apple Pay users is increasing

Three iPhones

Apple Pay is becoming more and more frequently used each month, a bi-monthly study has revealed. In May, nearly half (46 per cent) of iPhone 6 owners have successfully used Apple Pay. This marks a 4 per cent increase from just two months ago.

The study, carried out by Auriemma Consulting Group’s Apple Pay Tracker, interviews a new group of 500 iPhone 6 owners every eight weeks. Alongside an increase of new users, the report also recorded a very high rate of repeat usage: 63 per cent of people have said that they use Apple Pay at least weekly.

“The Apple Pay base is broadening from the tech-savvy early adopters,” says Marianne Berry, Managing Director of ACG’s Payment Insights practice.

She goes on to say how in the first research, conducted in January/February, 70 per cent of Apple Pay users saw themselves as the early adopters, but that figure dropped down to 55 per cent in the second phase, recorded in April, suggesting that “less tech-oriented types are now trialling mobile payments via Apple Pay”.

However, with new users come potential hiccups. As the number of early tech-savvy adopters dropped, nearly half of people (45 per cent) said they had Apple Pay set up issues in the April study.

“Among those who reported issues setting up Apple Pay, 62% acquired their iPhone in 2015, compared to 38% who got their iPhone in 2014,” Berry pointed out.

“Mobile payments still comprise only a small fraction of overall payments volume,” said Berry, “but Apple Pay is the first service to garner double-digit numbers of users. As the upgrade cycle gives more consumers access to Apple Pay, and Android Pay comes to market, the long-awaited transformation of the payments industry may finally have begun,” she added.

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