Apple Pay Now Accounts for 90% of Contactless Transactions Where Active [u]

Speaking at the Money 20/20 conference that kicked off in Las Vegas yesterday, Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s VP of Apple Pay, shared a series of milestones for the company’s digital wallet and payments service, highlighting that Apple Pay now accounts for 90% of all mobile contactless transactions globally in markets where it’s available, TechCrunch is reporting. “Apple Pay is the future of everyday spend,” Bailey said on stage.

Apple pay

Bailey revealed that the service is launching in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the UAE in the next few days, bringing the total number of countries where it is used up to 20. She explained that 20 markets represents a full 70% of the world’s card transaction volume. Bailey also noted that 4,000 issuers worldwide now work with the wallet, meaning there are now 4,000 credit and debit card issuers whose cards can now be uploaded to and used via Apple Pay.

The Apple VP also provided a long list of new stats that speak to new retailers that are now accepting Apple Pay, and older partners that are seeing strong use of the service. Here are a few of the more notable ones:

  • Apple Pay is now at more than 50 percent of all retail locations in the U.S., including 67 of the top 100 US retailers. Full roll-outs include the supermarket chain Albertsons (2,300 locations) and Dick’s Sporting Goods (675 locations). This is particularly compelling in cases where cards themselves have not been enabled with contactless/NFC payment technology.
  • Bailey said that “everyday commerce” categories — transportation, ordering coffee or meals ahead of getting them, and contactless tickets — are “booming.” (Ticketmaster is now rolling out contactless tickets to U.S. sports stadiums and concert venues.)
  • Apple estimates that the number of transactions across these everyday categories is already twice the number of transactions in traditional e-commerce, and growing five times faster than physical retail.

Meanwhile, First Data has today announced its Clover Go point of sale devices will be sold in Apple stores and that all First Data retailers will now all be able to accept Apple Pay.

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