Apple: Apple Pay Currently Used By 35 Percent Of US Merchants; Coming To Gap In 2017

Apple Pay is being accepted by 35 percent of merchants in the US, revealed Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay on Tuesday. She was speaking at a press conference in San Francisco. According to her, the acceptance of this payment service is slated to increase further in 2017.

The latest figures were pulled from around 4 millions of locations around the US. Bailey seemed confident that very soon two out of three American retailers will start using the payment service. The growth will also happen due to acceptance of Apple Pay by big companies like Gap. More are slated to join soon.

At the press conference, Bailey also went on to thank EMV cards for making Apple Pay a success. She said that EMV cards are quite irritating to use and that they make annoying sounds when they are used. She even went on to act out the sounds made by the EMV cards. These "hassles" of EMV cards are supposedly helping payment providers who offer contact-less payment service. Apple Pay is one of them.

However, Bailey also pointed out that Apple Pay isn't planning on pushing out EMV cards. She said that the company is more focused on building a solid base, rather than staking out competition. She pointed out that "Apple is more interested in working with partners and increasing acceptance. Knocking down EMV isn't the way to go".

Apple is concentrating on pushing offers through their partners. For example, they are offering bonus points on using Apple Pay with American airlines. Unlike many other payment systems, Apple Pay doesn't keep any record of any financial transactions. This is the reason why the service is rolling out offers through its partners. Towards the end of the press conference, Bailey was asked about the future plans of Apple Pay. She replied "everything in your wallet."

 Stay tuned to SWR for more updates and latest news on Apple Pay.