Mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay represent the future of payments. Support for contactless transactions continues growing rapidly – over 100 million Americans now regularly pay by smartphone monthly.
As the leaders in consumer technology, Apple and Google have each developed impressive payment platforms enabling you to leave your physical wallet at home. Both allow you to securely pay in stores, apps, and websites using just your mobile device.
But Apple Pay and Google Pay have some important technical differences under the hood when it comes to compatibility, usage, security protections and more. Keep reading this in-depth feature comparison to help decide the best digital wallet for your needs and budget!
Adoption of Mobile Payments Continues Exploding
Industry analysts project exponential growth in consumers using mobile payments over the next few years:
| Year | Total Users (Millions) | Growth vs Prior Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 98.4 | 17.7% |
| 2022 | 116.7 | 18.6% |
| 2023 | 134.3 | 15.1% |
| 2024 | 150.9 | 12.4% |
Driving this surge is the simplicity and convenience modern mobile wallet apps provide. Storing cards digitally means no more fumbling through your purse or pockets during checkout. And support for contactless payments using NFC antennas inside smartphones and smartwatches makes transactions nearly instant.
As early trailblazers in this space, Apple Pay and Google Pay aim to let you:
- Safely store debit/credit cards for online or offline payments
- Checkout faster with biometric authentication like fingerprint or face scanning
- Receive rewards, coupons and special offers from merchants
- Manage expenses better with instant digital receipts and spending summaries
But while the overall capabilities are similar, Apple and Google take different approaches implementing their wallet vision. Which mobile payment service is right for you depends hugely on your tech ecosystem plus individual use case…
Device Compatibility
The starkest contrast comes from device support. As part of Apple‘s products suite, Apple Pay only works on recent iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and the Apple Watch.
You cannot use Apple Pay on any Android or Windows smartphones, tablets or PCs since it relies on special hardware and software Apple exclusively controls.
| Supported Apple Devices | |
|---|---|
| iPhones (iPhone 6 or newer) | Apple Watches (Series 1+) |
| Recent iPads (iOS 12+) | Select Intel-Powered Macs |
Google Pay takes a cross-platform approach working across iPhone and Android smartphones alike. The app functions similarly on both operating systems allowing you to take advantage of contactless payments even without buying into the Android ecosystem fully.
| Supported Devices | |
|---|---|
| Android Phones | Android Wear OS Smartwatches |
| iPhones (iOS 11.0+) | Chromebooks |
So if you recently switched from Android to iPhone or frequently bounce between different device brands, Google Pay provides helpful flexibility to keep your financial data accessible. But Apple Pay will feel more tightly integrated if you solely use Apple gear.
Setting Up Each Mobile Wallet
Adding your cards to start paying only takes a few minutes with both services. But the process differs slightly on iOS versus Android.
For Apple Pay, onboarding your iPhone takes just a few taps thanks to deep integration with the Apple Wallet app and iOS settings:
- Open the Wallet app
- Tap the "+" to add a card
- Scan card details with camera or enter manually
- Review and confirm card details
- Verify with Face ID or Touch ID
Enrolling cards from your iPad, Mac or Apple Watch has nearly identical steps with single sign-on syncing everything via iCloud Keychain.
The onboarding flow for Google Pay works similarly but adds an extra app install step before getting started:
- Download Google Pay app
- Sign in with your Google account
- Click "Get started" then "+" to add cards
- Enter card number and expiration date
- Confirm CVV security code
- Accept terms and verify postal code
With an extra app to install and account to manage, Google Pay just takes a few more clicks to begin using vs Apple Pay‘s native integration. But ease of onboarding is comparable across both platforms.
Sending and Receiving Peer-to-Peer Payments
In addition to contactless retail transactions, Apple Pay and Google Pay also facilitate peer-to-peer money transfers.
Apple bundles its personal cash sending feature directly into the Messages app itself via Apple Pay Cash. This keeps everything conveniently centralized rather than requiring a standalone app.
To send cash with Apple Pay:
- Open your conversation in the Messages app
- Tap the Apple Pay button
- Authenticate with Face ID/Touch ID
- Enter the payment amount
- Confirm to transfer funds
Google Pay works very similarly but isn‘t embedded directly into Android‘s messaging apps. That means peer payments get initiated primarily through the Google Pay application itself.
Sending money via Google Pay requires:
- Launch the Google Pay app
- Tap "Send" then "Pay friends"
- Select a contact
- Enter the payment amount
- Authenticate by unlocking your phone
- Confirm details and send
For quickly paying back friends or family, Apple Pay Cash carries clearer advantages from a user experience standpoint. But core functionality ends up comparable across both platforms.
Security and Fraud Protections
Securing financial data is crucial when dealing with payments. Both tech leaders implement sophisticated safeguards – but take slightly divergent approaches.
The custom Secure Enclave chip included inside all recent iPhones and Apple Watches provides an extra hardware security layer encrypting and storing payment credentials.
Sensitive data gets saved directly on that siloed chip rather in the device‘s general storage. And Apple ties that tightly to either Face ID or Touch ID authentication methods for verified access.
This makes compromising Apple Pay virtually impossible without having physical possession of the unlocked authorized device and matching biometric data like fingerprint or face scan.
Google Pay relies more on software-based security versus unique hardware, encrypting all financial information similarly to generic app data. Unlocking via PIN code, pattern or password provides the authorization layer granting access for payments.
Without custom silicon, Google Pay leans more on operating system protections like Trusted Execution Environments. But device compatibility flexibility comes at the cost of that dedicated hardware security.
Based on third-party evaluations, Apple‘s approach generally scores higher marks thwarting potential attack vectors. But in practice, both platforms utilize protections far superior to carrying vulnerable physical cards.
Where Can You Pay Using These Services?
Despite having over a billion global users respectively, Apple and Google needed to ensure mainstream merchant acceptance for their nascent payment platforms.
The companies jointly negotiated agreements with major payment networks like Visa, Mastercard and American Express early on. This immediately granted support for Apple Pay and Google Pay at tens of millions of retail locations.
And both wallet services built support directly into their web browsers – Safari and Chrome – allowing online checkout with biometrics too. Firefox, Samsung Internet and Microsoft Edge also now integrate with the payment standards.
As of 2022, consumers can use contactless mobile wallets at over 90% of stores in the United States. That includes everywhere from big box retailers, grocers, pharmacies and convenience shops to boutiques.
[Apple Pay and Google Pay rely on NFC contactless terminals available at most major US retailers. Source: PYMNTS]
So unless you frequently shop at local small businesses or specialty vendors, you‘ll likely enjoy seamless tap-and-pay integration with both digital wallets nearly everywhere you visit.
Costs and Fees: Who Pays For These Services?
Of all the modern payment processing offerings, Apple Pay and Google Pay stand unchallenged providing value without extra charges or fees for consumers.
You pay nothing directly to Apple or Google for using their wallet platforms. No subscriptions, account fees or transaction charges get passed on through the apps themselves.
The same standard credit and debit card processing fees still apply behind the scenes when you checkout. So if your card issuer or bank normally charges for payments, those costs remain unchanged – merchants handle everything invisibly.
That means these services boil down to pure upside enhancements securing your data while streamlining payments. And you shoulder no financial burden for those major benefits!
Now merchants assume slightly higher fees allowing mobile wallet transactions compared to basic cards. Most retailers now pay 1-3% combined to the payment processor, card network and issuing bank per contactless checkout.
But those few extra basis points help fund the advanced tokenization, biometric authentication and encryption that enables omnichannel tap-and-pay while blocking fraud. Over time, the expectation is higher checkout conversion and customer loyalty offset merchant expense as digital wallets catch on.
Which Offers a Better User Experience for Payments?
Ease of use proves pivotal for any financial service seeing mainstream adoption. In practice, Apple holds the edge for contactless mobile transactions with best-in-class speed thanks to tight hardware plus software integration.
On iPhone models with Face ID, authenticating Apple Pay takes under one second without any swiping or app launching needed. You simply glance at the terminal screen to confirm payment. The same process works flawlessly whether you have your phone or Apple Watch on-hand.
Google Pay transactions flow reasonably smoothly but typically require you first unlock your Android device. That means manually inputting your PIN code, pattern or device password before holding up to the payment scanner.
That extra step seems minor but makes a remarkable difference in checkout duration compared side-by-side. Unlocking also introduces extra friction paying in movement grabbing a coffee on the go or when juggling items.
So while Google Pay lets you leave home without the actual wallet, the modern magic comes from not needing to interact with your phone at all during transactions as Apple Pay enables.
Which Mobile Wallet Is Best for You?
With scalability and convenience firmly engrained into both offerings now, choosing between Apple Pay and Google Pay ends up fairly straightforward:
- If you solely use Apple devices like iPhone, iPad and MacBook – Apple Pay makes for the best fit thanks to seamless integration with hardware and iOS itself.
- For cross-platform flexibility across Android, iPhone and even Windows, install Google Pay. You sacrifice a bit of user experience polish but gain wider compatibility.
- On Android phones specifically, Google Pay also enables device unlocking loyalty/transit features unavailable via Apple Pay. This provides extra day-to-day utility.
- If you get service from a smaller bank or credit union, verify Apple Pay and Google Pay compatibility for your cards before committing fully to either wallet.
At the end of the day mobile tap-and-pay aims to simplify rather than introduce complexity. The service working most dependably across the places you already shop makes for the right choice.
Both mobile wallets continue seeing exponential growth year-over-year. Right now marks just the beginning of smartphones replacing our leather billfolds! It pays to go digital ASAP and unlock the next era of payments.
