Knowledge Hub
APMs 7 min read

Digital Wallets Explained: How to Add Apple Pay and Google Pay to Your Checkout

Digital wallets now account for over half of global e-commerce transactions. For UK merchants, Apple Pay and Google Pay are no longer optional extras — they are checkout infrastructure. Adding them typically takes hours, not days, and delivers measurable conversion uplift and fraud reduction from day one.

David Sampson · Founder, IceTree

Payment consultant specialising in PSP matching, card acquiring, and high-risk merchant solutions ·

What Digital Wallets Are

A digital wallet is a secure application that stores a customer's payment credentials — typically a tokenised version of a debit or credit card — and allows them to authorise payments using their device's biometric security (Face ID, Touch ID, or fingerprint) instead of entering card details manually. The most widely used digital wallets in the UK are Apple Pay and Google Pay, followed by PayPal.

For in-store payments, digital wallets work via NFC (Near Field Communication) — the same contactless technology as a physical card, but authenticated biometrically. For online payments, they appear as a checkout button that completes the transaction with a single confirmation. No card number entry, no CVV, no billing address form.

How Tokenisation Protects Merchants and Customers

The defining feature of Apple Pay and Google Pay is that neither the customer's real card number nor the CVV is ever transmitted to the merchant or to the payment network. Instead, a network token is used — a device-specific, merchant-specific surrogate number that is cryptographically linked to the underlying card but useless outside that specific context.

For merchants, this has two significant implications:

  • Fraud liability shifts. When a transaction is authenticated via Apple Pay or Google Pay, the biometric confirmation satisfies Strong Customer Authentication. If that transaction later turns out to be fraudulent, liability shifts to the issuing bank — not the merchant.
  • Chargeback rates fall. Because the real card number is never exposed, card-not-present fraud on wallet transactions is negligible. Merchants who process a high proportion of wallet transactions typically report material reductions in their fraud chargeback rate.

The conversion argument

Merchants who add Apple Pay to a mobile checkout typically report 2–5% higher conversion on mobile devices. The primary driver is reduced friction: instead of manually entering 16 card digits, expiry, CVV, and billing address, the customer approves with their thumb or face. On mobile, where form abandonment is highest, this is a meaningful difference.

Apple Pay vs Google Pay vs PayPal

Apple Pay

Apple Pay works on iPhone (from iPhone 6 onwards), iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. It requires a card provisioned in the device's Apple Wallet app and is authenticated with Face ID or Touch ID. Apple Pay has approximately 85% adoption among iPhone users in the UK — the highest wallet adoption rate of any payment method domestically. For merchants with significant mobile traffic, it is the highest-priority wallet to enable.

Google Pay

Google Pay works on Android devices and in the Chrome browser on any platform (including desktop). It uses the same network tokenisation model as Apple Pay and offers equivalent fraud benefits. Adoption among Android users in the UK is growing but lower than Apple Pay due to Android's more fragmented device landscape. For merchants with a significant Android audience — particularly gaming, streaming, and app-based businesses — it is an equally important addition.

PayPal

PayPal operates differently: it is a separate financial account, not a card tokenisation layer. Customers pay from their PayPal balance or a linked payment method. PayPal has 435 million active global accounts and is particularly trusted for higher-value purchases and among customers who are reluctant to enter card details on unfamiliar sites. Adding PayPal to checkout typically adds 3–8% incremental revenue from customers who would otherwise abandon. It carries its own dispute resolution process, separate from card chargeback rules.

How to Add Digital Wallets to Your Checkout

The implementation path depends on your payment stack:

  • Hosted payment pages (Stripe, Braintree, Checkout.com, Adyen). All major gateways support Apple Pay and Google Pay via configuration in your dashboard. Stripe's Payment Request Button, for example, renders the correct wallet button automatically based on device detection. Enable in settings, add the Apple Pay domain verification file (your gateway provides this), and the button appears dynamically for eligible customers.
  • Platform-based merchants (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento). All major e-commerce platforms support digital wallets natively through their payment provider integrations. Shopify Payments includes Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Shop Pay by default.
  • Custom integrations. Implement Apple Pay using Apple's Payment Request API or JS SDK, and Google Pay using Google's Pay API. Both provide JavaScript APIs that detect device and browser compatibility, render the wallet button conditionally, and route the tokenised payment through your existing acquirer. No separate acquiring relationship is required.

Regional Wallet Priorities

Apple Pay and Google Pay dominate in the UK, US, and Western Europe, but merchants with international customers need to understand regional differences:

  • China: Alipay and WeChat Pay are essential — Apple Pay adoption is negligible. Available as APM options through most major acquiring platforms. Required for merchants selling to Chinese consumers regardless of geography.
  • India: UPI (Unified Payments Interface) dominates. PhonePe and Google Pay (India) are the leading UPI apps. Paytm is also widely used.
  • Netherlands and Northern Europe: Open banking (iDEAL, Swish, MobilePay) often outperforms wallets as the preferred digital payment method. Both should be offered.
  • US: Apple Pay adoption is high among iPhone users, with Venmo relevant for peer-to-peer and marketplace contexts. Cash App is significant among younger demographics.

Express checkout placement

The highest-converting pattern is to place the wallet button at the top of the checkout flow — before the shipping address form, not after. Customers who tap express checkout skip the form entirely. This is now standard practice among high-conversion e-commerce merchants and is natively supported by all major payment gateways. If your wallet button appears only at the payment step, you're leaving conversion on the table.

FAQ

Common questions answered.

A digital wallet is a secure application that stores a customer's payment credentials — typically a tokenised version of a debit or credit card — and allows them to pay without manually entering card details. The most widely used digital wallets in the UK are Apple Pay and Google Pay. Rather than transmitting the real card number, digital wallets use a device-specific network token, which significantly reduces fraud risk. For merchants, digital wallets increase checkout speed, reduce form abandonment on mobile, and satisfy Strong Customer Authentication requirements automatically through biometric verification.

Yes, significantly for fraud-related chargebacks. Apple Pay uses network tokenisation — a device-specific surrogate card number replaces the real card in every transaction. Even if that token were intercepted, it is useless outside the specific device and merchant context. Additionally, the Face ID or Touch ID authentication used to approve Apple Pay transactions satisfies Strong Customer Authentication, shifting fraud liability to the issuing bank rather than the merchant. Merchants accepting Apple Pay typically see a material reduction in fraud chargeback rates on transactions processed through it.

No. Apple Pay and Google Pay are payment methods that run on top of your existing card acquiring infrastructure. The underlying transaction is still a Visa, Mastercard, or Amex payment processed through your merchant account. Your acquirer or PSP handles the wallet transaction via your existing agreement — no separate commercial arrangements with Apple or Google are required. You enable them in your payment gateway settings and, for Apple Pay, add a domain verification file to your website. That is the full setup.

Apple Pay only appears when the customer is using a compatible Apple device (iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch) with at least one card provisioned in their Wallet app. Google Pay similarly requires an Android device with Google Pay configured. For customers on incompatible devices or who have not set up a wallet, the button doesn't render and they proceed with standard card entry. This detection is handled automatically by the browser's Payment Request API — there's nothing to configure on your end. The button appears only when it will actually work for that customer.

Yes, substantially. Card-on-file stores a real card number (or a gateway token) that has value to fraudsters if compromised. Digital wallets use network tokens — dynamic, device-specific, merchant-specific values that cannot be used elsewhere even if intercepted. Apple Pay additionally requires biometric authentication for each individual transaction, creating a two-factor authentication flow that card-on-file cannot match. For subscription merchants who store cards for recurring billing, network tokenisation (available directly through Visa Token Service and Mastercard Digital Enablement Service) delivers the same security benefits without requiring the customer to use Apple Pay at checkout.

Not offering wallet payments yet?

We connect merchants with providers that support Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and 100+ local payment methods through a single integration — no separate agreements or added technical complexity.

APM ServicesSpeak to a Consultant

We use cookies to analyse site performance and measure the effectiveness of our outreach. Privacy policy