Apple Pay has reportedly overtaken PayPal to become the most widely accepted method of digital payment in the U.S.
Till last year PayPal had been leading Apple Pay as the latter was supported by just 16 percent of merchants in the U.S.
However, research conducted by Boston Retail Partners states that Apple Pay is now accepted by 36 percent of U.S. merchants, followed PayPal and MasterCard PayPass.
"PayPal has been bumped out of its top spot in this year's survey, with Apple Pay now being accepted at 36 percent of the retailers participating in the survey," stated the report which was released by NFC World.
The report also reveals that an additional 22 percent vendors had plans of integrating Apple Pay within the next year, whereas another 11 percent said that they would likely start accepting payment through the platform in the next one to three years.
Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, had stated in a recent earnings call that more than 2 million vendors now supported Apple Pay.
How Do PayPal And Other Mobile Payment Services Compare?
PayPal, by comparison, has a current acceptance rate of 34 percent, followed by MasterCard PayPass with 25 percent.
Interestingly, Android Pay comes in at fourth with just 24 per cent merchants supporting the mobile payment platform. This figure is expected to grow within the year as 18 percent vendors plan on supporting Android Pay.
Problems With Mobile Payment
In the report it was also stated that the main hindrance to the growth of these online payment systems was the lack of knowledge and know-how among many users. It was suggested that vendors and merchants should take the pains to educate the people on the advantages of using such services. This would also minimize the time required for the transactions.
"For mobile payments or mobile wallets to succeed, there must be further education at the point of sale to ensure that a transaction using a mobile device is not longer or more complicated than traditional payments methods for either the customer or associate," recommended the researchers.
Therefore, it seems that all major outlets would soon accept some form of mobile payment. It seems that Apple Pay has managed to capture the market in this sector as well for now, becoming the most commonly used mobile payment system in the U.S.
Android Pay, on the other hand, has a long way to go to catch up to its competitor. The growth of mobile payment services is just beginning and ensuing years will show how the market changes, as well as which systems are able to cement their place.
