Apple Pay has more than doubled its share of users in the Australian market over the last three years, a recent Roy Morgan Digital Payments Report showed. Apple Pay is now used by almost four million Australians – or 17.7% of the population – in an average 12 months and is the third most widely used digital payment service.

According to Stripe head of solutions architecture for Australia and New Zealand, Dalan Miller, as businesses moved or shifted their focus online during Covid, there was a rapid increase in the adoption of Apple Pay and Google Pay.

“Many of the first conversations I had with our Australian customers were about quickly enabling Apple Pay and Google Pay and it remains top of mind today,” he told Retailbiz in a recent interview.

“More merchants are offering these payment methods but it’s still the minority. If any business can enable one thing, I would suggest it would be the acceptance of Apple Pay and Google Pay.”

Beyond these payment methods, the company is excited about the potential of Link by Stripe, which allows one-click or express checkout by auto filling customer payment information to create an easy and secure checkout experience.

At its recent Stripe Tour Sydney annual conference, Stripe also announced support for PayTo, a low-cost, real-time payment method that enables businesses to initiate recurring and one-off payments directly from customers’ bank accounts.

“I am personally excited about PayTo because I believe it benefits both merchants and consumers. Merchants receive instant verification of funds in their account and consumers gain visibility into who can debit their account,” Miller said.

“With PayTo, we’re largely in an educational phase as businesses understand what it means and there’s still questions around if it’s a good fit for everyone. Is it a card replacement? No. Is a direct debit replacement? Maybe. We’re seeing early success but there’s still a long way to go.”

There’s also excitement building for Tap to Pay, which allows merchants to accept contactless payments from physical cards and digital wallets simply using their smartphone with no extra hardware required.

“The ecosystem is opening up and businesses are recognising how easily it fits into their current offering. In the next 12 months, I predict there will be an increase in the uptake of Tap to Pay,” Miller said.

“With a lot of payments hardware available today, it doesn’t evolve with the times or deploy new software updates, which makes the software velocity of smartphone apps key to a seamless and up-to-date payments experience.

“Even while interest rates are high and cost of capital is increasing, consumers are still spending more time online because they’re trying to find the best deal. They are more cost-conscious and want to ensure they are getting the best price before they head in store.

“Looking ahead, it doesn’t seem there’s anything on the horizon that will influence change from an economic standpoint, particularly in the short-term. This means businesses need to up their game when it comes to operational foundations from payment methods to online and offline checkout experiences. BNPL is still more relevant than ever. In 2023, Stripe saw peak BNPL usage in Australia and this is likely to continue to grow.”