What you need to know
- A new study says there were 2 billion debit transactions on Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay in 2020.
- According to Pulse, 92% of those were made through Apple.
- The average transaction value also jumped from $15 to $23.
A new report indicates that Apple Pay accounted for some 92% of approximately 2 billion U.S. mobile wallet transactions last year, dominating Samsung and Google Pay.
A new report from Pulse indicates that the pandemic prompted U.S. consumers to make fewer but larger debit purchases last year, generating a "strong increase in total debit spending."
The report notes that for the first time in 16 years of the study debit transactions declined in total number, however, spending grew by 8%, with average transaction value jumping from $15 to $23 year on year. Of the 2 billion mobile wallet transactions made in the U.S. last year, Apple Pay accounted for some 92% of them, according to the study:
Approximately 2 billion debit transactions were completed using the three major mobile wallets – Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay – in the U.S. in 2020, a year-over-year increase of 51%. Apple Pay expanded its lead over the other two wallets, accounting for a noteworthy 92% of these transactions. The average ticket size of debit mobile wallet transactions jumped from $15 in 2019 to $23 in 2020.
A study from February last year predicted that by 2025 Apple Pay will account for 1-in-10 of all global card transactions by 2025, and 50% of all on-device mobile payments by 2024.
Apple Pay's popularity has drawn scrutiny from some government antitrust bodies, including in Australia, where a committee is trying to establish whether Apple is stifling competition by restricting access to the iPhone's NFC chip. The probe actually raised more questions about the committee than Apple, after the company was posed a series of bizarre questions asking (wrongly) why it charged 30% commission for Apple Pay transactions, and when it would allow third-parties to use Bluetooth on the iPhone.
