Apple Pay Surpasses PayPal to Become Most Popular Mobile Payment Solution

Apple Pay has surpassed PayPal to become the most popular mobile payment solution in the United States, according to research from Boston Retail Partners.

36% of more than 500 top North American retailers surveyed now support Apple Pay. That’s up from 16% last year. Another 22% are planning to accept Apple Pay within the next year.

PayPal fell to second place with a 34% acceptance rate followed by Mastercard PayPass at 25%, Android Pay at 24%, Visa Checkout at 20%, and Samsung Pay at 18%.

“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.”Only 11% of retailers surveyed said they weren’t planning to implement a mobile payment service.

“One of the critical factors for any mobile payment success going forward is education. We have found repeatedly that not only are consumers unsure of how and when mobile payments can be used but, even more telling, associates are unsure,” BRP says. “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.”