Apple Pay adoption is 'underwhelming to date by nearly every objective standard,' says Goldman Sachs

Apple Pay, Apple's mobile wallet that allows users to pay at stores and online with their smartphone, launched in 2014 to a lot of fanfare.

The next year, Google and Samsung matched Apple with their own smartphone wallets, Android Pay and Samsung Pay, respectively.

But a few years later, mobile wallet adoption has been "underwhelming to date by nearly every objective standard," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a report distributed to clients on Friday.

"Despite much publicity upon launch, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay have struggled to gain traction," the analysts wrote.

"Apple Pay is the dominant name among the digital wallets with 90% of all mobile phone contactless US transactions done on Apple Pay, according to Apple," they continued.

For example, only 27% of eligible iPhone users have ever used Apple Pay. Only 8% use it every week, according to First Annapolis statistics. Apple is still ahead of Google and Samsung, partially due to its yearlong head start.