Apple Pay is gaining more influence in Asia, with the transaction volume up 500 percent year over year as of December 2016, according to recent data.
Along with tailing its rival Samsung Pay into Russia, Apple Pay has also expanded to Japan, New Zealand, and Spain in the last fiscal year. Kelly Hsieh, an analyst from TrendForce, said that the fact that the iPhone holds about a third of the smartphone market share in Taiwan is a strong argument that Apple Pay’s adoption in Asia can continue to rise.
“Apple Pay can become a leading mobile payment platform that will gradually change the payment habit of Taiwanese consumers if it is able to win over consumers by providing strong data security and a very positive user experience,” Hsieh said.
Customers want a mobile payment app that is easy to access and understand. People also remain concerned about security. In Japan, Apple has struggled to find a foothold in a market already comfortable with a local mobile payment model, Sony’s Mobile FeliCa. Increased sales of the iPhone 7 – which includes FeliCa support – could help Apple in that market, though.
Apple Pay security has several layers: the fingerprint scanner on the phone itself, and the tokenization system used to protect data sent from retailers to issuing banks.
“Rather than copying business model from the home market, Apple Pay needs to strive to win over consumers’ trust in security and data privacy,” Hsieh said. “At the same time, it needs to gain support from consumers by providing value-added user experience. Also, Apple Pay will need to collaborate with participants in different industries in building an infrastructure that allow them to develop mutually beneficial businesses involving mobile payment. By doing these things, Apple Pay will be able to take the leading role in expanding mobile payment in Taiwan.”
