Apple Pay Now Supported by 36% of Merchants in United States

Apple Pay is now accepted by 36 percent of merchants in the United States, according to research conducted by retail consulting firm Boston Retail Partners and shared by NFC World. That's up from 16 percent last year.

Boston Retail Partners derived its information from a survey of more than 500 top North American retailers.

applepay
22 percent of retailers who don't currently support Apple Pay said they plan to accept the payments service within the next 12 months, while 11 percent plan to do so in the next one to three years. 31 percent plan to take a "wait and see" approach before implementing Apple Pay support.

PayPal was the next most widely accepted payments service at 34 percent, while MasterCard's PayPass came in third with 25 percent. 24 percent of merchants claimed support for Android Pay, while 18 percent said they accept Samsung Pay. Given that many of these technologies are all NFC-based and accepted anywhere NFC payments are available, it seems merchants may be referring to "official" support or may be unaware of the way contactless payments work.

"PayPal has been bumped out of its top spot in this year's survey, with Apple Pay now being accepted at 36% of the retailers participating in the survey. This is up significantly from 16% last year, and signals a growing acceptance by retailers and customers."

"This year, fewer retailers are adopting a wait and see approach for Apple Pay and PayPal -- likely because of the growing support from the payment software ecosystem and the acceptance for these mobile payments by the public."

During Apple's recent first quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple Pay usage had tripled over the course of 2016. Transaction volume was up more than 500 percent year-over-year, and according to Cook, more than two million small businesses now accept Apple Pay.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
top stories 2025 04 19

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, CarPlay Bug Fix, and More

Saturday April 19, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
This week saw rumor updates on the iPhone 17 Pro and next-generation Vision Pro, while a minor iOS 18.4.1 update delivered not just security fixes but also a fix for some CarPlay issues. We also looked ahead at what else is in Apple's pipeline for the rest of 2025 and even the 20th-anniversary iPhone coming in 2027, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more! iPhone 17 ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...

Top Rated Comments

TurboPGT! Avatar
107 months ago
I'm still surprised by amount of retailers in my area who don't support Apple Pay. I don't use it as much as I thought I would, even with my Apple Watch. Maybe it's because I just prefer the plastic. Is plastic that old school?
Personally, now that the "chip" is everywhere, this was all the motivation I needed to start looking for Apple Pay.

Whoever designed the chip system should be ashamed. Way worse than swiping ever was.

I especially like the horrid error tone that plays to tell you to remove your card after a successful transition.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
konqerror Avatar
107 months ago
What a flawed survey. PayPass is contactless, so merchants who accept PayPass also accept Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay. There's no reason why Android Pay and Samsung Pay are less than PayPass.

They also left out payWave and expressPay (Visa, AMEX Contactless). They should have lumped contactless into one. They did Visa Checkout but left out the equivalent Masterpass.

It also is lumping in-person and online payments into one. Visa Checkout is online-only, Paypal and Bitcoin are mostly online, a bunch are both. And of course, there's a bunch of merchants who support Apple Pay online only, like Target.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
magicvash Avatar
107 months ago
The problem is, most cashiers don't know that NFC payments are supported. Or, the machine is kept behind the counter, and they ask for your credit card to swipe it. Then there's all the times were the NFC part doesn't work randomly, and so you're stuck swiping were inserting the trip.There needs to be a lot more training at these retailers to update their staff. Hell, even at McDonald's, which was supposed to have Apple Pay since forever, I find that some of the staff are constantly shocked/surprised. The drive-through is even more of a pain, because they have to take out the credit card reader machine, and show it to me. Almost makes it easier to get my fat ass out of the car and walk inside the store
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NexusUser Avatar
107 months ago
Samsung pay is accepted basically everywhere a regular credit card is accepted... This might as well have been a survey of how well marketed are these tech terms!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gfeen Avatar
107 months ago
Wasn't Samsung Pay designed with LoopPay technology and works almost anywhere? Thereby making it higher %?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Robert.Walter Avatar
107 months ago
The problem is, most cashiers don't know that NFC payments are supported. Or, the machine is kept behind the counter, and they ask for your credit card to swipe it. Then there's all the times were the NFC part doesn't work randomly, and so you're stuck swiping were inserting the trip.There needs to be a lot more training at these retailers to update their staff. Hell, even at McDonald's, which was supposed to have Apple Pay since forever, I find that some of the staff are constantly shocked/surprised. The drive-through is even more of a pain, because they have to take out the credit card reader machine, and show it to me. Almost makes it easier to get my fat ass out of the car and walk inside the store
My 84yo mom has been using Apple Pay since 10/2014 and she has to school the kids on the register at McDonald's all the time. She says it's not the kids, it's bad training from managers. Some McDonald's even have trouble to get the POS terminal out the window because the cord is so short.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)