Apple units sights on journey spending

Apple needs to make its digital pockets an indispensable a part of funds for journey, in response to an organization government who spoke at an business convention final week.

The tech behemoth goals to have vacationers use its digital pockets at quite a few factors on their journey, stated Jennifer Bailey, vp of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. The agency has embedded Apple Wallet as a fee methodology at airports, motels and in public transit methods, Bailey stated.

In some instances, vacationers can obtain their airline boarding cross to Apple Wallet and use an ID saved on the app to get by means of Transportation Security Administration checks, she stated throughout a question-and-answer session on the Money 20/20 convention in Las Vegas on Oct. 26. 

But using the digital pockets can begin even earlier than arriving on the airport, she stated. “If you’re like me and you live in the suburbs, you probably drive a car,” Bailey stated. “I use a tap to unlock my car with a digital key that’s in my Apple Wallet.”

Users of the digital pockets can even use Apple Pay to trip public transportation in 800 cities, she stated.

Cafe and restaurant chains like Starbucks, that are frequent in airports, additionally settle for Apple Pay, as do ride-share providers like Uber and Lyft, together with many motels, Bailey stated.

Apple Pay is the fee service that lets Apple Wallet customers make transactions with bank cards saved on their digital wallets.

The tech big has lately delved deeper into offering pockets providers for airline journey wants. American Airlines, for instance, introduced final month that it will let vacationers add a boarding pass to their Apple Wallet, and Alaska Airlines began accepting Apple Pay for in-flight purchases in 2023.

To make certain, the tech firm faces an uphill battle in its quest to broaden journey funds as giant banks and their airline and resort companions dominate journey spending.

Competitors like card firm American Express in addition to the financial institution card issuers Capital One Financial and JPMorgan Chase see a whole lot of billions of {dollars} spent by means of their fee merchandise annually.

American Express, for instance, reported $376 billion in travel spending on Amex playing cards to this point in 2025, Forbes reported in September. Meanwhile, the cardboard community Visa – which has co-branded bank cards with airways like Southwest and United – noticed between $920 billion and $1.2 trillion in estimated journey and leisure spending for the yr, the information outlet stated.

Apple has not disclosed in latest earnings reviews how a lot shoppers spend on journey by means of its digital pockets. Company spokespeople didn’t reply to a request for info on how a lot Apple customers spend on travel-related purchases.