An unnamed source told Ars Technica that weekly llet transactions have increased by 50 percent over the last couple of months, new users since last month have nearly doubled. confirmed to the New York es’ Mike Isaac that the report is accurate without specifying exactly how many people use llet. llet has been around since 2011, but its growth has been severely stunted by disputes with wireless carriers (who have tried to push their own mobile wallet service), weak retail availability, security concerns. Apple y only launched in mid-October, but it’s already in decent shape with 1 million card activations in its first three days. Apple promises that the system is more secure than a credit card because it never transmits card numbers to the merchant, never stores them on Apple’s servers. It’s also more convenient through the ione’s TouchID fingerprint reader, which lets users authenticate purchases without even turning on the screen. And while retail support is far from ubiquitous, non-participants are already feeling the pressure to get on board. llet isn’t quite as simple, as it requires users to unlock their phones enter a N to authenticate payments, but with visibility for NFC-based payments rising, it seems that more Android users are at least willing to give it a try. y this matters: It’s unclear whether will try to ride the wave, but it’d certainly be easier for llet to make a comeback now. More merchants will likely be getting on board with NFC-based payments thanks to greater consumer interest, most newer Android devices can support tap-to-pay thanks to a change in the way Android hles NFC payments. And with signs of NFC support coming to Android ar, paying by tapping your watch could be just as convenient as using your phone—if not more so. If any of this comes to pass, Android users might actually owe Apple a debt of gratitude.
