A year after Apple Pay’s launch, the digital payment system is only accounting for 1 percent of U.S. retail transactions, Bloomberg reports. Apple Pay has suffered from a lack of promotion and limited support from retailers, but at Panera Bread — an early adopter of the new pay format — the percentage of Apple Pay transactions is in the low single digits. Even within Panera’s iOS app that lets users order from their iPhone, Apple Pay only accounts for around 20 percent of transactions. Vince Burchianti, chief financial officer of Firehouse Subs, said Apple Pay makes up about 2 percent of his company’s transactions. “Apple is just not even pushing it out,” Burchianti said. Apple’s lack of promotion is reflected in user ambivalence, with more than 75 percent of surveyed iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users saying they’d never tried the service.
But Apple is quick to point out the news isn’t all bad, with the company claiming it has seen “double-digit monthly growth in Apple Pay transactions since launch.” With a record number of new iPhones sold last month, more users now have phones that support Apple Pay — so as customers become more comfortable using their phones as a payment method, Apple will have a large user base on which to capitalize. More retailers are also expected to equip stores with terminals that can accept Apple Pay, and with the rise of chip cards that have to be inserted into a terminal to function, Apple Pay could become a faster, more convenient option.
Dan Pye
Dan Pye was a news editor at iLounge. He's been involved with technology his whole life, and started writing about it in 2009. He's written about everything from iPhone and iPad cases to Apple TV accessories.