NEW YORK—When mobile wallets debuted years ago, the country looked to Apple Pay as the digital payments method likely to lead the way—and that included hundreds of credit unions, which signed on with the new wallet.
But Apple’s domination of the market never materialized, according to new data that show PayPal has been the clear winner.
At its peak in the Spring of 2021, PayPal’s mobile wallet has powered 28% of in-store mobile transactions, while its nearest competitor, Apple Pay, never did better than 15%, Pymnts.com reported.
“And online — PayPal’s home court — the difference is even more pronounced, as its mobile wallet peaked just short of a full half of all online transactions at 48%, while Apple and Google Pay struggled to reach and stay above 11%,” Pymnts.com said.
Near Universal Dominance
PayPal is nearly universally dominant in all categories — more than 10% ahead of its more direct competition in the market — in every place but one, according to the report. Affluent consumers—those earning more than $150,000 a year—still prefer PayPal, with 18% using it to shop in-store, but the preference isn’t as wide, with 13% of affluent consumers reported using Apple Pay.
“This is, notably, an in-store-only phenomenon — PayPal dominates Apple Pay online, with 41% of affluent consumers tapping into it compared to Apple Pay’s 11%,” Pymnts.com said.