Apple CEO Tim Cook: CoVID-19 is making contactless payments more common in the US

Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about Apple’s payment service during the company’s q4 2020 earnings call. He said the use of contactless payments is likely to grow in the US as a result of COVID-19. Cook’s answer, in fact, has to do with the payment habits of U.S. users.

Previously, American users were more accustomed to using credit CARDS, checking them out and then taking them back into their wallets. On the one hand, according to wind data, the US held an average of 2.9 credit cards in 2017 alone, and after years of development, the US credit card payment system is well developed. On the other hand, the “development dilemma” of mobile payment in developed countries is also related to the importance their citizens attach to the right to privacy. Europeans and Americans attach great importance to personal information security. In their opinion, mobile payment exposes too much personal information.




So, despite Americans’ growing reliance on smartphones, most Americans still pay without a mobile phone.

But the COVID-19 outbreak has made it possible for people to avoid such direct contact, so Apple Pay, a contactless payment method known as NFC, is used more often.

The increase in delivery and mobile ordering during the pandemic appears to be related to the improved overall viability of COVID-19 and online ordering and delivery. Pew found in April that “as a result of the coVID-19 outbreak, approximately one-third of Americans living in urban areas (35 percent) and suburban areas (36 percent) said they had ordered from local restaurants online or through an app.”



Some media believe that if users have used contactless payment services, people will no longer resort to credit cards to pay. The United States has been lagging behind in contactless payments because of people’s habits. Covid-19 may cause US users to change their payment habits.

In terms of mobile payment, American consumers have many choices, such as apple pay, Google payment, Samsung pay, PayPal, Square Cash, etc. But to use these apps, merchants like coffee shops and retail stores need the right hardware.

Whether Apple Pay or Google’s Google Pay or credit card NFC chip contact, all belong to contactless payment. Cook said apple is passionate about payment services. Apple Card did well, Apple Pay did particularly well.