Apple exposes the crack in PayPal’s checkout dominance
By Celine Provini
Published on April 8, 2026.
PayPal's dominance at online checkout is waning, with fewer shoppers choosing the PayPal button over other services like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and buy-now-pay-later. The company’s branded checkout growth slowed to just 1% in Q4. Since January, the stock has fallen more than 20%. The company attributes this slowdown to a “K-shaped economy” where wealthier Americans continue spending while lower- and middle-income shoppers pull back. PayPal's core U.S. users are expected to grow by fewer than 1% year-over-year to 92.1 million in 2026, while Apple Pay is expected to reach 90.
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