Apple Pay, the Fintech service offered by the eponymous tech firm Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), is growing at a rapid pace, according to a report compiled by Salesforce.
Asking the question of which payment type saw the fastest adoption in 2022, Apple Pay delivered a whopping 63% increase.
In comparison:
- Credit card use grew by 2%
- Finance declined by 8%
- Gift cards grew by 5%
- PayPal dropped by 6%
Of course, the caveat here is that Apple Pay is starting from a lower adoption level than more mature payment options. The most popular form of payment types is credit cards at 66%, followed by PayPal at 16%, with Apple Pay and Finance tied at 6%. Gift Cards barely registered at 1%.
The Salesforce report surfaced after the black Friday and cyber Monday annual holiday sales rush.
Bryan Keane, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, commented on the report noting that Apple Pay is Hoovering up market share at an “extremely rapid pace”. Looking at year-over-year monthly numbers for November, Keane reports that Apple Pay was up 52% globally and 59% in the US.
He predicted that PayPal will “face the steepest competition in the coming months and years from Apple Pay.”
Apple Pay is effectively a digital wallet that allows users to add third-party credit and debit cards to pay at touchless terminals. It is also home to Apple’s very popular credit card – Apple Card. Apple already allows purchases of its own product to take place over time, and a BNPL service will allow a user to pay over a six-week period. Add this to the forthcoming savings feature where cash will generate interest, and Apple ends up looking more like a neobank.
While Apple only takes a very small sliver of any charge or transaction – these can add up over time as billions of people are using Apple’s products.