NEW YORK – In a column this week on Pymnts.com, Market Platform Dynamics CEO Karen Webster took yet another a look at the new Apple Pay platform. More specifically, she made the case that Apple Pay needs merchants more than the other way around. 

While it’s hard to argue with the success of Apple Pay’s launch thus far — Webster cites the platform’s dominations of all mobile payment conversations since September as well as its role in kickstarting mobile payments in general — Webster argues that for Apple Pay to be truly successful, Apple needs to get merchants on board.

Up to now, merchants haven’t really been part of the Apple Pay narrative, she explains: “It’s simply assumed that if enough consumers come storming into the stores waving iPhone 6’s wanting to use Apple Pay to pay, that merchants will enable it or else be subject to the wrath of consumers who don’t like being denied using their favorite payment method in their favorite stores.”

However, there seems to be plenty of chicken-egg debate at work here, as Apple Pay will need to get enough consumers excited enough to use their iPhones to pay at enough of the merchants that matter to them. Which in turn means that Apple Pay will have figure out a way to get enough of the right merchants on board with NFC-enabled terminals.

Webster writes that “there need to be something about Apple Pay — here in the U.S. and everywhere else in the world — that will make enough consumers want to use it. Something that adds enough value to their shopping experience that, in turn, delivers enough value to merchants that they will want to support it.” And at this point, it’s still not clear what exactly that value is.