Apple Pay breathes life into Google Wallet, bumping usage 50%

Google Wallet usage is on the rise too. Photo: Google

Google Wallet usage is on the rise too. Photo: Google

Mobile payments are on the rise everywhere thanks to Apple Pay, and if you want proof, look at Google Wallet’s once-dying carcase.

Google’s mobile wallet solution launched over three years ago but failed to gain any significant usage, but Apple Pay’s launch has breathed new life into the competitor, with sources at Ars Technica reporting that new users have doubled in just a month.

“A person with knowledge of the matter tells Ars that Google Wallet, which launched back in 2011 and saw tepid success in the ensuing three years, has had considerable growth in the last couple of months. According to our source, weekly transactions have increased by 50 percent, and in the recent couple of months, new users have nearly doubled compared to the previous month.”

The two wallet platforms have some key differences in the way they function behind the scenes, but the user experiences appear similar, and both work at any NFC registers. It appears that Apple Pay’s rise in popularity has also helped increase the interest in Google Wallet and other competitors as well.

Tim Cook revealed that Apple Pay saw one million cards activated on the service within the first 72 hours of launch, making it the most popular mobile payment wallet for Visa and Mastercard. Competing mobile wallets like CurrentC have tried to block Apple Pay and Google Wallet at stores, but the Apple Pay ban actually alloyed Google Wallet and Apple Pay fans to boycott stores that support CurrentC.