Starbucks mobile pay app has more users than Apple Pay

Starbucks (SBUX) is not alone in the mobile payment arena, yet its success with its mobile pay app is something that cannot be ignored. At the time when tech giants Apple (AAPL) and Google have struggled to get smartphone users embrace their mobile payment apps, for the coffee giant it appeared to be a cakewalk, partly because it was the first to innovate the concept with simple technology.

The specialty coffee maker that rolled out the mobile payment program back in 2011 has all the features than a coffee addicts wants. The widespread use of its app made Starbucks the winner in the mobile payment space.  And the new estimates predict that Starbucks will continue to rule this game.

The latest report by a research company eMarketer claims that the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain is the most popular mobile pay app among users in the U.S. last year; nearly 20.7 million people used Starbucks famous pay app. This was followed by Apple Pay that had 19.7 million users using their app. eMarketer predicts that this trend will continue to be the same through 2022.

As research firm Payment Source highlights, both the apps serve different purposes. Apple pay is built with an initiative to replace wallets and the coffee company built the app so that people can skip lines and place an order in advance and pay via their app.

The latest report by a research company eMarketer claims that the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain is the most popular mobile pay app among users in the U.S.

Google Pay and Samsung Pay were built with a similar initiative as that of Apple Pay. The research firm ranked both Google Pay and Samsung Pay, after Starbucks and Apple Pay, as they were used by 9.3 million and 8.4 million users, respectively. The research company predicts that by the end of this year nearly 23.4 million users of age 14 and above will use Starbucks app.

But going by eMarketer, Starbucks pay app is undoubtedly famous as it became the simplest option to avail for Starbucks visitors. Apart from this, the success is partly because of its customer loyalty program that triggers users to order through the pay app regularly.