As Apple Pay crossed the 15-month mark, a new report suggests consumer awareness and usage of the mobile wallet are falling, despite robust support from banks and an exponential increase in the merchants that can accept Near Field Communication payments.
The percentage of iPhone 6 owners who said they use Apple Pay routinely, or more than once a month, fell to 15% in December 2015 from 19% the previous spring, a consumer survey First Annapolis released this month suggests. The data aligns with
Even consumer curiosity about Apple Pay is declining: Only 20% of iPhone 6 owners said they’ve used Apple Pay at least once, down from 22% who told First Annapolis in the spring of 2015 they’d given it a try. First Annapolis conducted the survey in December 2015 among 1,300 U.S. smartphone owners who make their household’s financial decisions.
Awareness of Apple Pay—while still quite high—also declined, First Annapolis said. Almost three-quarters of all consumers, or 73% of respondents, said they have heard of Apple Pay since its October 2014 launch. But among iPhone 6 users, awareness declined to 84% in the most recent survey compared with 88% last spring.
Sixty-six percent of iPhone 6 users said they’ve used Apple Pay to make an in-store purchase, compared with 52% who said they’ve used it for an in-app purchase.
In terms of consumer attitudes, 60% of respondents said they were “very satisfied” with Apple Pay, 94% were “somewhat satisfied” and none said they were dissatisfied.
The results suggest the typical financial institution supporting Apple Pay can expect that 1% to 2% of cardholders have used Apple Pay two or more times, First Annapolis concluded.
Apple Pay hasn’t made much of a dent yet on consumer behavior, but that’s not surprising, said Lee Manfred, a partner with First Annapolis.
“With any new payment approach, it takes time for consumers to adapt,” he said.
Manfred said it’s too soon to count Apple Pay out, especially because consumers report positive experiences using it. “It just may take a lot longer than many expect for Apple Pay to ramp up,” he said.
Apple Inc. currently lists nearly 1,000 U.S. banks that support Apple Pay, along with 14 U.K. banks plus American Express Co., which supports Apple Pay in Australia and Canada.
About 2 million U.S. merchant locations reportedly support NFC, which is required by Apple Pay as well as Samsung Pay and Android Pay.
Crate & Barrel, Chick-fil-A, Au Bon Pain and Zappos.com are the latest large retailers to announce support for Apple Pay.
