Quarterly Apple Pay penetration, online or offline, in the U.S. 2018-2025

Apple Pay adoption for in-store payments in the United States was slightly higher in 2024 than it was in early 2020, signaling a growing use among consumers. This is according to two different questions asked throughout multiple surveys from Statista's Consumer Insights. The numbers shown here refer to the share of respondents who indicated they used Apple Pay in the past 12 months, either for POS transactions with a mobile device in stores and restaurants or for online shopping. ** percent of the respondents from the U.S. who used mobile payments indicated they had used Apple Pay in a POS setting between December 2023 and December 2024 - with an additional ** percent saying they used Apple Pay during this same time for online payments. This was below Apple Pay use rates in other countries.

Apple Pay vs. other U.S. payment methods

Apple Pay faces much competition in the United States in online payments. PayPal was used by nearly one out of 3 total respondents in the country, for instance, in Q4 2024 - or * out of 10 respondents who used online payment methods. Apple Pay ranked slightly lower than Venmo in U.S. online payments, with * out of 10 respondents using it between December 2023 and December 2024. That said, Apple Pay and PayPal share a similar penetration when it comes to mobile proximity, or contactless, payments.

U.S. mobile POS payments are expected to get closer to credit cards

Apple Pay usage is linked to the overall growth of mobile payments and digital wallets in the United States. By 2027, wallets are expected to be the second-most used payment method in United States POS transactions. Credit cards - traditionally the most used payment method in U.S. brick-and-mortar shops - are to remain in the lead, but the gap would close significantly between 2023 and 2027.