Over half (52%) of AMEX credit card holders (non-bank issued) have an iPhone, well ahead of Mastercard holders (36%) and VISA (35%). ING Direct leads the banks in iPhone ownership with 47% but the big four banks are well behind, with Westpac and ANZ on 36%, followed by NAB (35%) and CBA (34%).
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), October 2014 – September 2015 (n=50,279). * Non-bank-issued
As would be expected given the higher incidence of iPhones, AMEX card-holders are nearly twice as likely as other card-holders to have made a purchase using a mobile phone. This will obviously make them more likely to take up Apple Pay.
At this stage over 80,000 AMEX card-holders own an iPhone 6, the only model capable of accessing Apple Pay. This is likely to grow rapidly, given that another 48,000 AMEX card-holders intend to buy or upgrade a mobile phone within the next 12 months.
AMEX card-holders are the big spenders
Holders of AMEX cards (non-bank issued) spend an average of $4,560 per month on cards overall, well ahead of Mastercard ($2,870) and VISA ($2,940).
Average monthly spend on Credit Cards
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), October 2014 – September 2015 (n=50,279). * Non-bank-issued
The challenge for AMEX is to capture more of their cardholders’ spend, which currently amounts to $1,980 per month or around 43% of their total card spend. The average monthly spend on Mastercard by comparison is $1,710 (60% of potential) and average spend on VISA is $1,790 (61% of potential).
Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director, Roy Morgan Research, says:
“There is an obvious synergy between the type of high-end, affluent customer who holds an AMEX card and Apple’s customers, who tend to be early adopters of the latest technology. This is evident in the fact that AMEX-issued card-holders have the highest iPhone ownership of all the major banks’ customers and other cardholders.
“Another positive factor for the potential success of Apple Pay is that AMEX card-holders are already more familiar than the general population with using their phone to make purchases, doing so at twice the overall population level.
“Although AMEX card-holders are much bigger spenders on cards overall than other card-holders, the full potential of business likely to be conducted on Apple Pay will depend on achieving a greater share of their spend. At present, AMEX is only gaining 43% of their customers’ card spend, leaving a big opportunity for growth from existing card-holders. It will also be interesting to see how many AMEX customers with their cards issued by a bank might drop their cards for one that can use Apple Pay.”
For comments or more information please contact:
Suela Qemal, General Manager - Financial Services & Consulting
Office: +61 (3) 9629 6888
Suela.Qemal@roymorgan.com