Since its launch in October, Apple Pay has accounted for two out of every three dollars spent via contactless payments on Visa, Mastercard and American Express. This is according to Apple Inc. CEO, Tim Cook, speaking during an earnings call with analysts to discuss the company’s first quarter earnings for fiscal 2015.

Cook said that, “Apple Pay is off to a very strong start,” and added that he expects 2015 to be “the year of Apple Pay.”

To date, 750 banks and credit unions have registered to accept Apple Pay. According to Cook, Whole Foods Market Inc. has seen a 400 percent increase in mobile payments since starting to accept Apple Pay, and at Panera Bread (also known a St. Louis Bread Company) 80 percent of mobile payments are via Apple Pay.

Right from the start Apple Pay hit some significant milestones, eclipsing the limited successes its predecessors had in the mobile wallet space. In the first 72 hours after launch, Apple Pay saw more than 1 million card activations and in December an ITG Investment Research Report on Mobile Payments revealed that Apple Pay accounted for one percent of digital payment dollars during the month of November.

The report also showed that Apple Pay is most used at Whole Foods, with the natural and organic food retailer accounting for 20 percent of Apple Pay transactions and 28 percent of Apple Pay dollars spent during November.

Walgreens, McDonald’s, Panera Bread and Subway also proved popular with Apple Pay users.

Now barely four months old, Apple Pay is only in “its first innings,” says Cook. He stated that Apple has “Tons of things on our road map of adding functionality to it.”

International expansion is on the cards with rumors of a London-based Apple Pay team for a European expansion and a potential partnership with Alibaba in China.

Expansion outside of the U.S. comes with its own set of challenges, according to Cook. He highlighted that each country requires a different implementation, has different carriers, banks and merchants; all with their unique regulations and requirements. He added that none of this will prevent Apple from taking advantage of the opportunity though.

In the U.S. Apple Pay now supports cards accounting for 90 percent of all credit card purchases.

Image courtesy Apple