Apple Pay is on track to account for around 10% of all global card payments by the middle of this decade, according to new research published by investment firm Bernstein.
Analysts at the company believe that the popularity of Apple Pay, which is currently used for 5% of card transactions, will eventually see it rival e-payment behemoth PayPal.
They noted: “For now, PayPal has a commanding lead in the world of online checkouts, and also benefits from network effects that have been building up since the turn of the century.”
The analysts believe that this advantage could be whittled away in the 2020s and that Apple will probably end up challenging its rival “for the same turf”.
However, it is unlikely to trouble Visa or Mastercard any time soon as both corporations operate at a scale with large card-issuing banks that Apple Pay is unlikely to be able to match in the coming years.
The future is bright for Apple Pay and rival Google Pay and contactless payment transactions in general though.
A separate report released on Wednesday by Juniper Research found that total transactions could surpass $6tn by 2024 with Apple Pay a key growth driver.
By that time, Apple Pay will have a 52% share of OEM Pay transactions, which is a 9% increase on its current share.
The report noted that the recent expansion of Apple’s mobile payment and digital payment services into new regions such as the Far East & China will fuel more usage by 2025.
Apple also has a head start on competitors in terms of privacy, which has become more of a focus for the company.
Apple operates strict governance on NFC tech installed in its iPhones in order to protect users from fraud, and it could argue that competitors’ apps do not meet the same standards.