Benzinga | Aug 17, 2021 06:05AM EDT

Apple Remains Dominant Player In Mobile Wallet Space For Debit Transactions, Says Study

Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Apple Pay continued to be dominant player in the mobile wallet space for debit transactions in the United States last year, according to a study by electronics fund transfer firm Pulse, a subsidiary of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS).

What Happened: Mobile wallet debit transactions grew by more than 50% to about 2 billion last year, as per Pulse's annual 2021 Debit Issuer Study, conducted by Oliver Wyman.

Apple Pay accounted for 92% of all mobile wallet debit transactions in 2020, while rivals Samsung Pay and Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Pay accounted for 5% and 3% of the transactions, respectively.

The study also found that the number of debit transactions declined for the first time ever in 2020, falling 2.5% year-over-year, while overall debit spend rose 14%.

See Also: Why Regulatory Risk Is A Silver Lining For Apple And Google

Why It Matters Apple's iPhone-based payment service is widely accepted across U.S. stores and is seeing increased retail adoption in the U.S.

Launched in the U.S. in 2014, Apple Pay enables users to add a credit or debit card for secure contactless and in-app payments.

It was reported in July that Apple is working on a plan to offer a "buy now, pay later" product, known internally as Apple Pay Later, in partnership with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS). The new service will allow consumers to pay for any Apple Pay purchase in installments.

Price Action Apple shares closed almost 1.4% higher in Monday's trading at $151.12, while Discover Financial Services shares closed almost 0.5% lower at $134.77.

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