Apple Pay -- the U.S. company's NFC-based mobile payment service -- is struggling to gain traction among iPhone 6 users, with the number of owners trying the service falling from 15 per cent in March to 13.1 per cent in June.
Regular research by payments news agency Pymts.com conducted in conjunction with retail data analytics company InfoScout also showed that the number of iPhone 6 users who used Apple Pay in stores fell from 48 per cent in March to 33 per cent in June, based on a survey of 1,498 iPhone 6 users.
Overall, the study showed that 3 per cent of iPhone 6 owners use Apple Pay on a regular basis, the Telegraph reported, citing the research. The mobile payment service has so far been officially launched in the U.S. and the UK.
The latest study also flagged concerns over security. Some 19 per cent of respondents in June said they avoided using Apple Pay due to security worries compared to 15 per cent in March.
Apple is also struggling to get its message across regarding the availability of the service. The number of iPhone 6 owners that forgot the service was available increased from 32 per cent in March to 34 per cent in June.
Among users that are aware of Apple Pay's availability, many simply shun the service because they don't know how it works: the number grew from 31 per cent in March to 34 per cent in June.
Karen Webster, Pymnts.com CEO, said the latest results are unsurprising, noting that many users said they don't understand why they would switch from their current payment methods to the Apple system.
Usage figures in the next survey could be bolstered by the launch of Apple Pay in the UK in July. Oxygen8, a UK-headquartered multi-channel communications platform provider, in April revealed that 92 per cent of UK mobile users planned to make a payment with their phone during 2015 and that 24 per cent would increase the amount they spend on their mobile device as the number of payment mechanisms increased, based on a survey of 1,000 users.
Apple could also benefit from growing awareness of mobile payment services as its rivals gear up to launch their own services.
Google is incorporating Android Pay in the latest version of its smartphone operating system, and handset maker Samsung Electronics is pressing ahead with plans to launch its own mobile payment service, Reuters reported in June.
For more:
- see this Telegraph report
- view this Pymts.com article
- see this Reuters report on Samsung
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