Starbucks may be leading Apple in the U.S. mobile payments market with the coffee chain said to have more users who made a payment using its app than Apple Pay. 

While Apple has made strides in turning Apple Pay into one of the dominant mobile payment platforms, leading ahead of both Google Pay and Samsung Pay, research from eMarketer indicates Starbucks continues to have a higher number of active users in the United States. 

According to estimates of mobile phone users aged 14 or older who have made at least one in-store mobile payment in the previous six months, approximately 23.4 million people in the U.S. will use the Starbucks app to make an in-store purchase by the end of 2018. By comparison, Apple Pay will be used by 22 million people, while Google Pay and Samsung Pay will have 11.1 million and 9.9 million users respectively. 

Starbucks is thought to continue leading over its rivals for a few more years, reaching an estimated 29.8 million U.S. users by 2022. Apple Pay is predicted to follow behind at 27.5 million users, Google Pay will stay in third with 14.9 million users, and Samsung Pay will lag behind with 13.2 million. 

Source: appleinsider