Apple Pay has gained a 98% satisfaction rate among those that have used the mobile payments service to make an in-store payment in the US, Auriemma Consulting Group’s Marianne Berry has told NFC World, adding that the average number of in-store Apple Pay purchases per week among all users now stands at 2.6.

MARIANNE BERRY: Apple Pay users ‘very satisfied’ with the experience

The findings form part of the company’s bi-monthly Apple Pay tracker research that was released in July, revealing that more than two fifths of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users (42%) used the mobile payments service in May and June, with 84% having made more than three in-store transactions.

“They are very satisfied with the Apple Pay experience in all manifestations,” Berry told NFC World. “That has been true since the beginning. Both the satisfaction with the experience as well as the recommendation measure, the net promoter score, are very high and they’re high for both in-app and in-store.”

In addition to the 42% of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners that are now using the service, 16% are planning to do so. Some 69% have added an average of 2.4 cards to Apple Pay, with users spending an average of $40 on their first purchase, increasing spending thereafter. The service also experienced a 93% satisfaction rate for in-app users.

“The primary barrier to usage is simply the number of merchants that are accepting it in the US right now, which is still a minority,” Berry continued.

“It’s going to be extremely interesting to compare the usage levels and adoption curve in the UK with that of the US, because the UK has a much higher penetration of NFC terminals.

“There’s no question that the relationship that iPhone owners have with Apple is stronger than we may see between other handset manufacturers. It’s not surprising in a sense that iPhone owners, in particular the owners of the newest phones who tend to be the early adopters, are positive about this.

“Within a year and a half from now, a good substantial majority of iPhone owners in the US will have a phone that could use Apple Pay. If this current level of usage continues, it will constitute quite a significant success in our opinion. For 40% of that population able to use Apple Pay to start using a new payment method within its first six months of introduction to the market is quite substantial.”

“When Android Pay comes to market, we believe that that’s going to provide a boost to all mobile payment systems,” Berry added.

“When Apple Pay came out, we saw the usage of Google Wallet go up and issuers in the US have also confirmed that they see that in their portfolios. I think that part of what happens is that mobile payments in and of themselves start to become less of a novelty and more mainstream.

“In the US, we’re going through EMV conversion right now so merchants are trying to cope with that piece of conversion in the payment process, which may also open the door up a little bit for mobile payment. We don’t expect plastic cards to go away any time soon; I think it’s difficult to say what the tipping point is going to be.

“I think it’s probably more determined by the reaction of the merchant community. The people that are using Apple Pay right now like it very much and they want to use it wherever they can — the only thing holding them back is the lack of places where they can use it.”