Cupertino-based firm Apple Inc. is not only famed for its iconic iPhones and game-changing iPads. The company is also very much known for introducing its proprietary mobile payment platform Apple Pay. And since its inception on Oct. 2014, the platform hasn't much been propelled to the limelight as has been overshadowed by other payment schemes such as PayPal and MasterCard PayPass. Not until this year, anyway.
Research firm Boston Retail Partners has shared that Apple Pay is now the most popular payment platform in the U.S. Currently, it is being accepted by 36 percent of the total merchants in the country, generating an increase of 16 percent from last year's.
The result was generated after the firm queried more than 500 of the top North American retailers about mobile payment services. The company has also asked whether or not these retailer currently accept or will accept the Apple Pay in the near future. Meanwhile, trailing behind Apple's platform are PayPal, MasterCard PayPass, and Android Pay.
MacRumors has also shared, via the research firm's output, that 22 percent of these retailers that currently do not accept Apple Pay will be supporting the payments service in the next 12 months. On the other hand, 11 percent has shared that they plan to accept the payments scheme in the next one to three years. A slightly larger 31 percent has expressed that they are still on the fence and are taking a "wait and see" approach before they delve into the bandwagon.
PayPay clinched the second place with a close 34 percent while MasterCard PayPass placed itself on third with 25 percent. Apple Pay rival Samsung Pay has ranked fourth with 18 percent.
Recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook has shared during the company's first quarters earning call that Apple Pay usage has upped tremendously over the course of 2016. He revealed that more than 2 million small enterprises are now accepting the payment platform.
