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Starbucks, not Apple Pay, is the king of mobile payments

If we're talking "tap-to-pay" services, anyhow.

Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews
When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.
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Sean Hollister
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Starbucks

Here's a surprising statistic you might like to share: 

According to eMarketer's blog post, the statistics only apply to US-based "proximity" mobile payments -- meaning we're only talking about payments made at a cash register in a store, not online shopping, and not payments you make to friends with Venmo, PayPal, Facebook Messenger and so on.

But still -- Starbucks. Not Apple Pay or Google Pay or Samsung Pay. Not a single one of the biggest mobile payment platforms is bigger than coffee, in terms of user base. And those 23 million people buying Starbucks with their phones only account for 12 percent of Starbucks transactions in the US, according to the company. 

I guess it makes sense that Starbucks is bigger, though: it's been working on this since 2010. Apple Pay didn't launch till 2014.

Watch this: Mobile payments are a mess. Here's why

Get a cup of joe with Starbucks for Android (pictures)

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