Apple Pay accounts for 68% of all in-store mobile payments in US

Accenture Mobile Payments Survey
SURVEY: Accenture’s research looks at what it would take to persuade people to start making mobile payments. Click to enlarge.

Apple Pay is used for more than two thirds (68%) of all in-store mobile payments in the US, research from Accenture reveals, and the number of North Americans aware of mobile payments has increased by nearly 10 percentage points since last year, reaching 52%.

The 2015 North America Consumer Digital Payments Survey also shows that one in five of the 4,000 respondents from the US and Canada have used a wearable device to make a payment at least once and the same number reported an interest in making a payment through a connected smart device such as a smart appliance or a smart car.

Those with a household income of at least US$150,000 are the most likely to use mobile payments, with 38% doing so at least weekly. 23% of millennials — those aged between 18 and 34 — are also making mobile payments at merchant locations at least once a week, compared to an average of 18% for other age groups.

However, fewer than one in five consumers (18%) are using their devices to make at least one payment a week.

Discounts

79% of those who currently make mobile payments say they would increase their usage if offered discount pricing or coupons based on past buying behaviour and 78% would increase usage if they received reward points. 54% of those not currently making mobile payments would make them if offered discount pricing or coupons and 53% would use mobile payments in exchange for reward points.

“Though it’s clear that consumers are aware that they can make payments through their phones, continued use of existing payment methods and slow retail adoption of modern card readers have caused usage levels to remain stagnant over the last year,” says Robert Flynn, managing director for Accenture Payment Services in North America.

“This is a clear indicator to banks and retailers that, although the digital transformation in payments is progressing, there is still a long way to go before we reach broad market adoption.”

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