Nearly 40% of large retailers intend to accept Apple Pay by 2016 - report

According to a survey from Boston Retail Partners, Apple, CurrentC and Bitcoin are tied. Eight percent of retailers who took the survey said they already accept Apple Pay — the same amount that currently accept MCXs CurrentC mobile wallet and Bitcoin. Thirteen percent of the surveyed retailers accept PayPal.

The report also indicates that Apple will lead by 2016. If the retailers follow through on their plans 38% will accept Apple Pay while PayPal will fall to second place at 31%. Only 21% say they will accept CurrentC.

However, the study points out that PayPal strikes back. When the time horizon is expanded to 3 years, 62% of the retailers say they will accept PayPal, while 56% say they will accept Apple Pay. It should be noted that its not clear what share of retailers plan to accept PayPal in stores though. The survey adds that we can be reasonably sure that these retailers will accept Apple Pay in-stores because 45% said they would implement NFC-compatibility by October 2015 — thats the technology Apple Pay uses to transmit payment data.

Of the retailers surveyed, 95% generated USD 100 million or more in annual revenue. That means that the survey reflects the plans of the biggest retailers in the country which drive the vast majority of transaction volume, the source concludes.