At this year’s Money 20/20 USA conference, Apple Pay and Wallet vice president Jennifer Bailey outlined the company’s growing influence in digital payments and the steady expansion of its financial technology ecosystem. In her keynote, Bailey emphasized Apple’s long-term goal of replacing the physical wallet with a secure, privacy-focused digital alternative while highlighting several new performance metrics that reflect Apple Pay’s global reach and commercial impact.
According to figures shared by Bailey, Apple Pay helped prevent more than $1 billion in payment fraud across credit and debit card transactions worldwide over the past year. The company claims that its tokenization and biometric authentication systems can cut fraud by more than 60 percent compared with traditional payment methods—and, in some markets, by as much as 90 percent. Beyond security, Bailey said Apple Pay also drove over $100 billion in incremental merchant sales globally, fueled by higher authorization rates and deeper customer engagement.
Now operating in 89 markets, Apple Pay is supported by over 11,000 banks and payment networks, including 15 domestic networks. In the U.S., Apple reports that 90 percent of retailers now accept Apple Pay, a dramatic leap from just 3 percent when the service launched 11 years ago.
Bailey also reiterated Apple’s broader ambition to transform Apple Wallet into a comprehensive, digital-first alternative to physical wallets. Today, hundreds of millions of users access Apple Wallet for in-store, online, and in-app payments, and can use tap-to-ride features in more than 250 regions and 800 cities worldwide. Apple’s digital wallet also houses a growing range of credentials, from transit passes and car keys to boarding passes and IDs, reflecting the company’s push to integrate identity and mobility functions into its ecosystem.
On the merchant side, Apple continues to expand Tap to Pay on iPhone—a feature that allows businesses to accept contactless payments directly using an iPhone without additional hardware. The service is now live in 48 markets and used by more than 15 million merchants globally.
While Apple has often framed Apple Pay and Wallet as privacy-forward consumer products, the keynote’s data points underscore the company’s increasingly strategic role in global payments infrastructure. By positioning Apple Wallet as a secure alternative to plastic cards and paper IDs, Apple continues to strengthen its foothold in both consumer finance and retail technology, shaping how users interact with digital commerce across its ecosystem.
