The Benefits of Apple Pay for Merchants & Consumers

The buzz around Apple Pay is no longer constrained to the retail sector. With customer adoption growing and the demand for digital payment types rising, merchants from all industries are starting to realize the benefits of Apple Pay in their payment mix. Let’s dig into some of the reasons that both businesses and consumers are warming up to this payment method.

What Is Apple Pay?

Apple Pay was launched in October 2014 as mobile payments were just breaking into the mainstream. With native support on the iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, iPad and Safari browser, the service has quickly gained traction with millions of users. It allows consumers to make payments on the web, in iOS applications, and in person.

Today, Apple Pay is available in 20 countries across the globe at participating retail stores and financial institutions and through iOS apps.

Many businesses are embracing Apple Pay in an effort to streamline processes and attract mobile-preferred customers—from large retail outlets, to transportation agencies and even consumer lenders.

Benefits for Consumers

Enhanced Security

With identity theft, data breaches and credit card fraud on the rise, payment security has become a major concern for consumers. Apple Pay is a secure payment option designed with privacy in mind. It has security features built in to both the hardware and software of compatible devices, helping to protect the user’s transactions and financial details. This includes the use of biometrics, such as fingerprint readers and face identification, that bolster the authentication process.

Further, although Apple Pay stores users’ debit and credit card details and bank account information, this data is not transmitted to the receiver or merchant. This reduces the risk of transactions being interrupted on air by malicious criminals looking to steal payment information and personal identifiers. This also means that consumers only need to share this sensitive data with Apple—not every business they pay.

Finally, Apply Pay is not reliant on a physical card or cash, which can be easily misplaced or stolen. Instead, payments are made via a smartphone, laptop, or Apple Watch that all offer additional layers of protection for customers.

One-Click Payments

Making a payment with Apple Pay is fast. There is no need to manually enter credit card details and other personal information — it is all stored securely within the Apple Pay system. This means transactions can be executed with one single click (or tap), reducing friction and improving overall customer experience.

During the payment process, Apple Pay can also prompt the user to enter card details if they have not previously used the service, making it easy to navigate for new users.

Convenient

Most people cannot live without their smartphones. We use it to connect, communicate, shop, work, play, and more. On average, users spend three hours and 15 minutes on their phone every day, with the top 20 percent of users spending more than four and a half hours. In other words, our phones come with us everywhere we go.

Making payments via mobile is incredibly convenient—people can use a payment method that they already have in their pockets. If they leave their wallets at home, no problem.

Recurring Payments

Many consumers prefer recurring bill payments, as they streamline the payment process and help to reduce late fees and other penalties. Apple Pay allows users to set up these recurring payments without having to fill out forms or change account settings on their biller’s or bank’s website. One time, future-dated bill payments are also possible.

Benefits for Merchants

Service Mobile-Preferred Customers

Mobile payments are growing in popularity. Research by Statista shows that mobile payment transaction value in the United States grew from $69.81 billion in 2018 to an estimated $130.36 billion in 2020. As detailed in the graph linked here, growth is expected to continue over the next few years.

Apple Pay helps merchants attract and retain customers who prefer to make payments via mobile—most commonly, Millennial and Gen Z consumers.

Giving customers payment flexibility can enhance their overall experience. It empowers them to personalize their payments journey. This is important considering more than one-third of consumers believe companies need to do more to offer personalized experiences.

Get Funds Quicker & Reconcile Easier

Apple Pay can delivers funds from the customer to the merchant significantly faster than traditional payment methods. This benefit can help relieve issues with cash flow, a leading concern for many businesses.

Vendors with consolidated reconciliation across all payment types ensure that mobile payment methods like Apple Pay are included along with other more traditional methods of payment, such as ACH and cash. This is a further incentive for adding these new options for their customers

Attract New Customers

Apple Pay has a staggering 30.3 million users in the US alone. By adding Apple Pay to their payment options, businesses can cater to this substantial pool of mobile-preferred consumers. On the other hand, if a company fails to embrace mobile payments, they risk alienating a significant portion of potential customers.

Getting Started With Apple Pay

Organizations looking to gain a competitive advantage and secure mobile-preferred customers must embrace alternative payment methods like Apple Pay as part of their bill payment options. To do this, they’ll need to adopt a payments platform that enables Apple Pay, preferably one that has a streamlined, built-in integration and doesn’t require adding an additional processor to accept this new form of payment.

PayNearMe offers Apple Pay (and Google Pay) for any client that wishes to take advantage of these modern payment types. iPhone users that prefer mobile payments can quickly and easily select Apple Pay when making a payment, ensuring their experience is quick, easy, and fuss-free.

If you’re ready to give your customers the power of choice, request a demo and see the value of PayNearMe firsthand. Our complete payments platform allows your customers to easily make payments across a number of payment types and channels, including Apple Pay.

Additionally, customizable wallet cards mean consumers can access living eBills and make mobile payments anytime, anywhere.