Apple Pay: 85 per cent of U.S. iPhone 6 owners yet to try it

Apple’s mobile payment platform Apple Pay still faces an uphill struggle to court favour with iPhone 6 owners in the United States, according to a new study.

A report from Infoscout and PYMNTS (via VentureBeat) claimed 85 per cent of those with access to Apple Pay haven’t bothered to give it a try.

Nine per cent of those have messed around with the platform but have never gotten around to making a payment. Others who were less inclined said they either didn’t understand how the platform worked or were perfectly happy with their current payment methods.

The study quizzed 1,188 members of the pubic over the course of three days during last week. Whether those numbers should be considered alarming, depends on perspective.

Many would say a 15 per cent adoption rate within the first 6 months represents solid process. However, it could easily be argued, given the heavy promotion from Apple and its financial partners, 15 per cent of users jumping on board is a disappointing return.

Related: Apple Pay vs Samsung Pay

According to PYMNTS, the struggle Apple has is only having a couple of devices on the market, while there are also a limited number of vendors accepting payments.

“Not only do you have to have consumers with Apple Pay, you have to have consumers with iPhone 6. So, you have to have a consumer with the right hardware and the merchant with the right hardware in order for it to work,” said Karen Webster, chief executive of PYMNTS.

The company can perhaps expect a boost following the launch of the Apple Watch next month as the wearable allows users to pay for goods just by placing it next to the reader.

Apple heavily touted Apple Pay during its recent Spring Forward event. As well as explaining the Apple Watch integration, Tim Cook seemed especially proud of the ability to buy soda at 40,000 vending machines across the U.S.

There’s still very little word on when Apple plans to launch Apple Pay internationally.