Apple Pay setup by two-thirds of iPhone 6 owners, nearly half only used once says survey

Apple Pay iPhone 6

Research shared by Phoenix Marketing International offers new data for Apple Pay‘s adoption and performance since it launched in the United States in October last year. The survey polled just over 3,000 credit cardholders to conclude that “11% of all credit card-owning households” and two out of three iPhone 6 users have used Apple Pay. Aside from a high adoption rate for the mobile payment service, the survey also highlights that almost half of those Apple Pay users have used the service just one time.

The report adds that 59% of the Apple Pay users polled have asked to use the mobile payment service in a retail store, although 47% were unable to use the service at an Apple Pay merchant because the specific location wasn’t ready for the payment type yet.

The report concludes that two out of three Apple Pay users surveyed reported issues at some point using the service, an experience not unfamiliar to me:

“Two-out-of-three Apple Pay users have reported a problem at checkout – mostly related to terminals not working or taking too long to make the transaction, inaccurate posting of transactions and the inability of cashiers to help buyers who needed assistance in using Apple Pay,” Majors added.

In terms of repeat Apple Pay users, the report noted that just 52% of users have used the service more than once since it launched late last year. The report also highlighted the difficulty with discovering merchants which accept Apple Pay and the lack of a central database aside from Apple’s microsite of partners.

Apple recently began offering merchants free decals to advertise Apple Pay payment support outside of businesses. Apple Pay has also added well over 100 banks and credit unions since the service launched with a handful of partners in late October.

When the Apple Watch debuts on April 24th next month, customers in the United States that pair the smartwatch with the iPhone 5, 5c, or 5s will be able to use Apple Pay for the first time as the service is currently limited to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus for in-store use.

If you have an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus with Apple Pay setup, let us know in our poll and the comments how many times you’ve used the mobile payment service in stores since it launched in October.