Apple Pay By The Numbers: Acceptance Grows As More Issuers Added

Apple Pay goes NBA, maybe to India and definitely on vacation.

It teamed up with Priceline to join the travel market and added a bunch more issuers whose customers can now easily Apple Pay enable their iPhone 6’s. Reading the help wanted tea leaves, it was clear that Apple Pay is prepping for a global expansion soon and showed its sporty side by earning a spot at the Orlando Magic’s arena. And startup POS platform ShopKeep announced it would distribute its terminals (which accept Apple Pay) for free, in an effort to give merchants (and itself) an Apple Pay edge. And Apple Pay even played nice with Google this week, which we don’t often see.

Here’s Apple Pay by the numbers this week.

1.25 Billion | The estimated population of India, one of four regions Apple Pay is eyeing for expansion

Apple Pay launched initially in the U.S. market but it’s been clear the company wants to have a global presence. That global launch may already been in the works as Apple has an Apple Pay team in London to help it expand the mobile wallet’s reach across Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. iClarified posted an article about a recently found job posting that indicates Apple is seeking members to join that team. Apple is also looking to hire an Apple Pay site reliability expert in China.

20 Million | The estimated number of Google Wallet users who can now use Apple’s TouchID to split charges

Good news for the 20 million Google Wallet users who need a new lease on their Google Wallet lives. A new update to the Google Wallet’s mobile app released on Monday (Dec. 15) now allows for extensive use of the iPhone’s Touch ID, enabling Google Wallet users to unlock the app with a fingerprint and the ability to see loyalty and giftcards while offline. It also has the ability to split charges. To be precise, it doesn’t really split the charge, in that the user who owns the app still must pay the entire bill, even if everyone involved has the Google Wallet iOS app installed. Google doesn’t specifically reveal how many downloads Google Wallet has but it’s estimated to be more than 20 million.

220,000 | The number of merchants MasterCard Nearby pinpointed that are contractually allowed to accept NFC transactions

In-store shopping app Chameleon has just added a thoroughly logical feature for an iOS app: It now notifies shoppers when the store they’re in accepts Apple Pay and gives step-by-step instructions for using it. That will complement other “Where is Apple Pay?” apps such as MasterCard’s Nearby app, which identifies all nearby stores that support NFC contactless payments (and, in theory, Apple Pay). Unfortunately, MasterCard Nearby just pinpointed the roughly 220,000 U.S. stores that are contractually allowed to accept NFC transactions and as we know from the kerfuffle of a month ago, not all who can, do.

20,000 | Capacity of Armway Center, home of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, where Apple Pay Is Now Accepted

When U.S. basketball team Orlando Magic hosts Utah Jazz Friday, Dec. 19, fans will be standing in the first NBA arena to offer Apple Pay. That’s when the technology will be debuting in Amway Center as part of a partnership with the Magic, Chase and E15 Group — the tech and analytics side of Levy Restaurants. The Magic is the first team to offer this service at a professional basketball arena.

 11,000 | Number of ShopKeep customers with the option to receive free Apple Pay POS equipment

Square competitor ShopKeep has a deal for new merchant customers: Sign up now for its iPad-based in-store point-of-sale system and they’ll give them free equipment to handle Apple Pay, contactless, traditional magstripe and (eventually) EMV chip payment cards. That free reader is Ingenico’s iCMP, a handheld card reader that communicates with the iPad through Bluetooth and includes a physical PIN pad. The 11,000 current ShopKeep customers can buy the device for $249 from the company.

90 | The Percentage Of Credit Cards Now Compatible With Apple Pay

The Apple Pay issuer list is slowly growing with the support of more banks and credit unions supporting the service. With the ongoing list of companies and retailers signed-up to support Apple Pay, the service is now capable of enabling the use of credit cards that, according to Apple, account for nearly 90 percent of U.S. credit card transactions. This is what that stat means. Consumers with cards from issuers that account for 90 percent of credit card transactions can now easily load those cards into their Apple Pay wallets. That’s great BUT users aren’t the problem Apple Pay – merchant acceptance is the long pole in the Apple Pay tent.

65 | The percentage of customers who book flights less than 24-hour in advance that can now use Apple Pay

With Priceline.com’s addition of Apple Pay to its travel-booking app last week, it’s believed that Apple Pay is well on its way to becoming a must-have feature for on-the-go travel apps, at least that’s according to travel-industry website Skift. “Sixty-five percent of our customers are booking less than 24 hours in advance,” said John Caine, Priceline’s chief product officer. “They’re likely already in the city where they’re staying. One of the biggest hurdles is figuring out that credit card.” Apple Pay is now available to Priceline customers to solve that dillema.

1 | The number of rumored Apple Pay competitors joining the mobile commerce playing field this week

Is Samsung preparing to launch an Apple Pay competitor? Rumor has it that it is, and that it may be teaming up with Boston-based startup LoopPay to do it. Like Apple Pay, consumers would be able to use their Samsung phones to complete transactions at merchant POS terminals. Both companies have declined to comment. Re/code, which broke the news on December 16, reported that this potential partnership is being fueled by Apple’s launch of Apple Pay.