Apple Pay Responsible for 1% of Digital Payment Dollars in November, Most Popular at Whole Foods

Apple Pay is seeing impressive early adoption numbers according to a new ITG Investment Research Report on Mobile Payments (via MarketWatch), which suggests Apple's new payment service was responsible for a total of 1 percent of digital payment dollars during the month of November.

Apple still trails industry leaders like Square and PayPal, which captured 18 and 78 percent of digital payment dollars in November, respectively, but ITG analysts suggest Apple Pay is showing strong momentum given that it's available only to customers with the newest hardware and supported by a limited number of merchants.

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According to the report, which uses data from ITG's Investment Research consumer panel, 60 percent of new Apple Pay customers used the service on multiple days throughout November, averaging 1.4 use times per week. In comparison, only 20 percent of new PayPal customers used the service multiple times during the same time period.

Among customers who used Apple Pay, Whole Foods was the location where the service was used most, capturing 20 percent of all Apple Pay transactions. Walgreens came in second, with 19 percent of transactions, and McDonald's was third, with 11 percent of transactions. Whole Foods was also saw the highest spending, responsible for 28 percent of all Apple Pay dollars spent.

Available since October 20, Apple Pay is accepted at several of Apple's partner stores and at more than 200,000 retail locations where NFC payments are accepted. Apple has given little indication of Apple Pay's early success, but in October, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple Pay had seen more than one million credit and debit card activations during its first 72 hours of availability.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

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Top Rated Comments

3NV7 Avatar
143 months ago
"Most Popular at Whole Foods"

Stereotypes FTW!
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gbc204 Avatar
143 months ago
I didn't think I would ever use Apple Pay, but now I use it whenever I can. It feels like the future. I used to get annoyed when people in line ahead of me would fumble for cash, or worse coins, (or god forbid WRITE A CHECK) and hold up the line. Now I get annoyed at the 10 extra seconds it takes to use a credit card. It really is fantastically convenient. I wish I could store my Target card info and other stuff like that on the phone too.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dwsolberg Avatar
143 months ago
At one point, Steve Job's goal was for the iPhone to get 1% of the phone market.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zhenya Avatar
143 months ago
I can't stand Wegmans!
I know. What's to like? A wide selection of food from inexpensive to foreign to gourmet. Prices competitive with the regular grocery stores. Fish, meat, cheese, produce and bakery sections that put other grocery stores to shame. Rarely a line to wait in. And the employees are always courteous and knowledgeable. What a crock! :eek:
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TraceyS/FL Avatar
143 months ago

- They need a way for local merchants / non-chains to be able to take Apple Pay...

There is, it is called accept NFC payments.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Glideslope Avatar
143 months ago
"Most Popular at Whole Foods"

Stereotypes FTW!
For the record: I used it at McDonalds last week on Breakfast Burritos and a large Coffee. Probably as far from "Whole Foods" as one can go. ;)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)