Apple Pay By The Numbers: Volume 4

Been a tougher than normal week for Apple, as some news about a Chinese malware called “Wirelurker” snagged headlines and gave the world a glimpse into the future of iOS security concerns, a future that could be called “Masque Attack.”  Also Apple Pay’s competition seemed to be fully waking up this week – PayPal says they’re not afraid and are competing with Apple for a deal with Alipay, while CurrentC is rolling on with its beta test at Target stores.

There’s good news too–Apple Pay is now an option there for candy and travel enthusiasts and Juniper Research thinks that Apple’s influence is going to quintuple NFC use in the next five years, a pretty impressive feat for a payment system that is currently accepted by roughly 2 percent of merchants nationwide.

So, we ask all of you devoted payments peeps, what, do you think the numbers hold in store for Apple Pay this week?  Relax, we gotcha covered.

$18 Billlion | The Value Of Apple’s  Software And Services Business

Given its flashier offerings – the iPhone and iPad spring to mind – it is easy to overlook Cupertino’s incredibly strong and extremely lucrative software and services business. And, that, Tim Cook says, is worth a cool $18 Billion.

Apple’s CEO took the stage with the WSJ’s Gerard Baker at Wall Street Journal Live to discuss the growth of Apple and the new products. The new Apple payment solution, said Cook, hits all three key consumer concerns about mobile payments: Ease, privacy, and security. Cook stated that customers want to use Apple’s new payments service, saying that in “the long arc of time, you are only relevant as a merchant if customers love you.”

800 M | The Number Of Alipay Accounts Apple Could Have Access To If The Two Giants Can Strike A Deal

Two big players whose names begin with an “A” could become ginormous if the potential Alibaba and Apple Pay partnership looks as good as the negotiations between the companies underway are reported.  It is said that the companies have been in ongoing talks for about a month which have been “positive,”  according to reports but no official agreements have been reached as details are worked out.

“Right now, I think what we can say is that this is focused on the China market for Apple,” Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Tsai  further noted that an Apple Pay-Alipay deal could use Alipay to provide back-end services for Apple Pay, and users would pay for transactions with money from their Alipay accounts.  Apple Pay is not without competition in this regard, reports indicate that a similar arrangement is being considered with PayPal as Alipay looks to expand to retail locations outside of China where it is not currently accepted.

~500 Million |  The Number Of NFC Users In 2019, According To Juniper

Analysts are forecasting that NFC users will grow to more than 500 million by 2019 thanks to Apple Pay. However, that prediction comes in the face of an incredibly  slow history of growth and would mean a quintupled growth rate due to Apple Pay.

It also comes in the face of a large swath of retailers – notably the world’s largest one Walmart – firmly in the “No NFC” camp so far.  CurrenC- the retailer mobile wallet- is also a no-go on NFC for now, though they have sort of vaguely hinted they might consider it in the future, at some point, when maybe cows can fly.

Given all those weights holding it back, and the fact that every analyst has spent the better part of a decade blowing predictions made about its impending ignition, we will be monitoring whether NFC can, in fact, go so far so fast.

34,000 | The Number Of Cities Apple Pay Users Can Use Airbnb To Book And Pay For A Stay

Airbnb announced this week that the newest update to its app will allow users to book and finalize accommodations in a seamless fashion by utilizing Apple Pay. Airbnb is available in over 34K cities around the world, and allowsusers to purchase both short and long term lodging options.

Airbnb joins other apps like Groupon, Lyft, OpenTable and Uber that have all incorporated Apple Pay into their offer.

6,000 |  The Number Of Vending Machines That Will Soon Be Taking Apple Pay

Apple Pay has hit the vending machine market.

VendScreen, a developer of vending industry cashless payment technology, announced this week that the company’s touchscreen devices now support Apple Pay and will be available to current VendScreen device installations at no additional cost or hardware upgrade. The update is anticipated to be available on all devices over the next several weeks, the company said. Vending machine patrons can now buy healthy and unhealthy snacks using Apple Pay!

112 |  The Number Of Days Apple Has Known About iOS’s Vulnerability To Masque Attacks

Apple products are safe, everyone knows that. Or at least, they did until a pernicious little piece of malware called “Wirelurker” revealed a chink in Apple’s armor. It’s a pioneer of sorts according to Unit 42, a first of its kind malware for Apple that makes use of a “Masque Attack” that bypasses security features and installs third party applications on Apple devices, without the user’s permission by exploiting a loophole is Apple’s security protocols.

A Masque Attack can be used to extract consumer data from banking and e-commerce sites, for instance. FireEye first made Apple aware of the flaw on July 26, 2014—and so far Wirelurker has been blocked by Apple, but iOS remains vulnerable to the malware family. Uh oh.

~24 |  TheNumber Of Target Stores Where CurrentC Is Being Tested Right Now

Target, one of the founders of MCX’s CurrentC mobile payments launch partners, has been using its employees to test the program.

Target spokesman Eddie Baeb was quoted saying that some Target headquarters employees had been testing CurrentC “in a couple of dozen Target stores around the Twin Cities” and that ““Right now, it’s in a very early test phase.”

MCX has publicly said that it is conducting limited tests of the service, but has been vague about where the tests are happening. We included this in the Apple Pay tracker because Target is using Apple Pay in its app for payments. Is in store payment via its app next on Apple Pay’s roadmap?  Why not, isn’t that what Open Table Payments via Apple Pay does?  Just sayin’.

~4 |  The Number of Years It Will Take e/m-Commerce To Account For 10 Percent Of Retail Sales

As Karen Webster noted in her column this week “e/m Commerce is growing like a weed, but it’s still a teensy weensy part of payments volume.”  She noted that according to eMarketer e-commerce and mobile commerce accounted for only ~6 percent of all volume and is only predicted to a “smidge” better in 2014.

What does this mean for Apple Pay?  Since well over 90% of retail is happening in-store,  “ the challenge for any mobile payments player, especially Apple Pay, is to solve a problem that the merchant has in getting consumers to shop in their stores.”  Webster notes payment, with a card as it is currently done, is not a problem.

And that’s the problem that Apple Pay and every other mobile payments provider has to crack.