Today’s announcement from Cupertino, CA on the launch of Apple Pay, a mobile payment option that combines near-field communication (NFC) with Apple’s new Secure Element chip in both the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, is a wish come true for many Apple fan-boys and girls.
According to Experian Marketing Services’ latest Simmons Connect study, 31 percent of adult iPhone owners say that they are interested in a service that would allow them to use their cell phones to make purchases in stores. By comparison, fewer Android smartphone owners (23 percent) are interested in such a service despite the fact that many Android phones already include NFC support. This means that iPhone owners are 30 percent more likely than Android owners to be interested in using their phones as a method of payment — something that is likely to lead to higher use of the technology and give a significant boost to mobile payments.
Of course critics and Apple’s chief competitors are quick to point out that several of the hyped new features of the iPhone 6, like the NFC support and the larger screen size, have been available in Android devices for months or even years. And while that’s true, many iPhone users chose to wait for an Apple-sourced solution rather than turn their back on a brand with which they identify. In fact, our research shows that a fifth (21 percent) of all iPhone owners say that their cell phone is an expression of who they are compared with 16 percent of Android phone owners. Furthermore, iPhone owners who are interested in mobile payments are nearly twice as likely to say their phone is an expression of who they are (38 percent). So despite the fact that (until now) their phone left them wanting in this area, iPhone owners were more content to go without the feature than to switch to another device.