Ben Lovejoy writing for 9to5mac:
A new survey of Apple Watch owners by Wristly found that 80% of those in the US and UK have already used Apple Pay, and suggests that this number could eventually hit 95%. The survey was limited to the two countries where Apple Pay is currently available.
The firm found that only 19% of Watch owners hadn’t yet tried Apple Pay, and of those only a quarter of them either had concerns or saw no benefits, suggesting that the rest were likely to try it at some later point.
I can definitely see how these numbers came to be. Since my bank started supporting Apple Pay, I’ve always used anytime I could. It’s very convenient and fast and it’s easier than picking up your credit/debit card from your wallet.
Despite that, I’ve only used my Apple Watch to pay in very few occasions just after the initial roll out. In my day to day experience I’ve found the phone to be more convenient, reliable and quicker1 than the watch.
Unsurprisingly, most Apple Watch owners said they preferred the watch to their iPhone when it came to using Apple Pay, just 9% preferring to use the phone.
Among other inconveniences, the biggest one that has prevented my from reliably using the watch is due to the weird placement of the different point of sales in the shops. Some of them are at a convenient height and easily reachable on the counter, many others are placed such as you need to do some weird twists and turns with your wrists, defeating its ease of use.
Looks like this time I’m in the small minority.
- Especially if you pre-authorize the phone seconds prior the actual transaction. ↩