Much as most of us here are eager about Apple Pay, I don't think the general public like having to work things out if it's too much of a hassle. There are enough barriers to leap with Apple Pay to cause a large proportion of people to reject it. Does Apple give clear instructions for setting it up and using it? Has it provided a comprehensive FAQ?
When people are so used to paying with a card or cash, it will take a lot to switch. I think it might be easier in Europe, because more have contactless cards, although that could also be a reason for limited adoption, because they are already convenient. If all you have to do is wave your card over a reader, that's really no less convenient than using Apple Pay. In fact, it might even be quicker and easier than having to get your iPhone out and hold it up and wait for it to register. Using the Apple Watch is potentially even worse, as you have to use two hands to tap the screen; better put down that shopping bag or baby. Security is a selling point, but I don't think it's a particularly compelling one, because fraud is already much lower in Europe and has been for many years due to chip and pin.
do you need to enter your pin on every single point of sale credit card transaction?
I use it all the time and have no issues at the places I frequently visit. For me (at least the locations I visit) Walgreens is just as fast as Whole Foods. No extra tapping or prompts at Walgreens.
The only place I have had issues at is Home Depot. A friend in NJ says it works fine for him, yet for me in IL, I have had zero luck... and I've been trying for several months now. POS terminal even has the "tap to pay" icon. Yet it doesn't work.... it gets stuck at "processing".
In due time, it will be more accepted, especially come October, when new terminals will be required (if merchant doesn't want to deal with fraudulent charges). I appreciate the places that already accept Apple Pay, and look forward to more and more places getting with the times.
I recently tried using it at staples and had a problem but I think the terminal froze because jt kept saying swipe card and he couldn't reset it so I gave him my card and he swiped it on his side . Cvs has new terminals too but there is only one light on not three and there's always a line so I'm hesitant to use it there. But have enjoyed using it as much as I can .
This article also published a quote from an analyst that fraud was "as high as 8%". That is BS and was subsequently disproved. But Bloomberg quoted it
Quality of journalists and major news outlets (Retuers, Bloomberg, USA Today) has become just abysmal. The superstar writers are either working for startups or successfully creating their own Blog franchise. The rest just seem to just be pumping out error-prone articles lacking any real insights
I really liked Apple Pay, and this artical may be overblown, but so is the lies lies lies
good that you have never had an issue, and no one that you know has,
I have, and I know quite a few people with iPhone 6, and all of them have experienced occasional problems.
Some stores (Harris teeter for example) At first it worked great, then i had issues where it would say "done" but it wasn't done, it might take 2 or 3 attempts then it might go through. Its unreliable enough now I seldom bother with it.
Once gas pumps take it, and it becomes more widespread and reliable, I will start using it again. For now - its simply not reliable enough
Sounds like we need to come up with a list of POS scanners that work all the time, work sometimes, or don't work at all. We also need to know how the POS terminal is configured. I know some stores let you swipe your card as soon as the cashier starts scanning items. I don't believe Apple Pay will work if you try and scan too early. It needs the final cost to properly complete the transaction. I also wonder where Apple is involved in the process. All POS terminals go through some kind of service provider before the Apple Pay transaction is completed. I know that because stores have the NFC component disabled while others only have it partially enabled. Apple might only be working with the head office of the stores they have qualified while it's up to the stores to make sure each location works. You seem to have found several that haven't figured out how to properly configure their local system to get it to work.
As for gas stations, I wonder how this is going to work. I use Costco with my Amex card, which notifies me when I make a purchase (with and without Apple Pay). I am pre-authorized for $150 then the final amount is handled behind the scenes and I'm not notified. My Costco Amex serves as my membership card, which is required to operate the pump. How will this change when they take Apple Pay? Will I use my phone as a membership card (why not? just flash the phone with the membership card as I enter the store) to authorize access to the pump, then use it again when I'm done to complete the transaction? Do I do it only at the beginning and it finalizes the transaction when I put the pump handle back in?
I'd really like to see NFC tags added to all merchandise so I could simply use my phone to scan my basket and pick up then disable all the tags so I can bypass the checkout.
McDonalds is a franchise, and depending on the locations and owners, it can be very smooth for Apple Pay. Stables required me to sign afterwards, which slowed things down. WholeFoods and Wallgreens are good too, and I see they improved transaction speed over the last couple of month. But one time Walgreens did have problem with the NFC terminal and asked me to use CC instead.
The vending machines at Chicago Union Station also worked great with Apple Pay.
With me, the "solution" for most of my problems was making sure I picked "credit" rather than "debit".
Unless the cashier selects this for me, I usually just put my phone to the terminal without selecting my purchase type and it uses whatever type of card I have defined (both credit, none debit).
Not scanning is the biggest. This had a lot to do with where I held my iPhone. On the McDonalds terminal, it has the red piece that says scan here, but I found I have 100% success if I hold it over the terminal itself instead of 3 inches further up on the red area.
Saying done and nothing happened. This had everything to do with the cashier rather than Apple Pay. S/he simply didn't select NFC on their register. They're too used to automatically selecting debit as the payment method. I had one lady insist she did it correctly until her supervisor came over to pressed the right option. That day was the first day I used Apple Pay. This can result in Apple Pay saying done multiple times. I think "done" means more that it linked and transmitted information rather than confirming a transaction took place. It probably doesn't mean you got billed when it says done because that would mean information went back and forth to the phone.
Anyway, it works fine with me whenever I can remember to use it. And since I'm usually staring at my phone while waiting in line, it has become faster than debit.
Used to automatically selecting debit... not credit? I guess this is McDonalds. I wonder when cashiers say, "debit?" if they are trying to persuade me to use debit for lower fees, or if they genuinely have a preponderance of debit vs credit customers, so they assume the most common.
Most times I use Apple Pay, the cashier then asks me to sign my name with a pen to the screen on their NFC terminal. Why is the signature necessary? Feels like it kills the whole point as it would have been just as fast swiping credit card.
I've had some issues with it but I still prefer using it. Walgreens always works but asks too many additional prompts. Office Depot moved me around four different registers before finding one with the NFC turned on. McDonalds has two registers and with one of them I just get a message that says hold the phone closer. Tried it at a campus vending machine the other day and at first it accepted but when I chose my snack it rejected the card. Swiped my card and it worked fine. I'll always use Apple Pay when it's an option but it does seem like there are a lot of issues on the vendor end.
I have recently spent several weeks in the UK and was amazed at how many merchants have the RFID equipment that just works™ with Apply-pay. Hospital cafeteria,, restaurants, gas stations, general stores. The worst problem I had there was a merchant who wanted to charge 50p extra for a credit-card based transaction (at least he was not singling out RFID for this treatment).
Invariably in the USA merchants are not equipped to deal with "contactless" pay. I usually ask if they will be supporting "contactless" soon and I get a variety of answers, ranging from "what's that" to "it's too expensive". I do not know how accurate this is but one high street merchant told me it would cost them $1000 up front just to get the equipment.
Whether that was FUD or not, I really believe that Apple can make this technology ubiquitous by putting in place a business to roll out and support "contactless" pay directly at the merchant level, subsidizing or directly providing the equipment. Absent such a grass-roots hand-holding exercise Apple pay availability will be spotty at best and a nice but rare option.
Come on Apple, there has to be a business case here. Don't wait for the banks. Give the merchants the technology and the support directly. Build a loyal high street merchant base and watch the whole halo-effect unfold (again).
Used to automatically selecting debit... not credit? I guess this is McDonalds. I wonder when cashiers say, "debit?" if they are trying to persuade me to use debit for lower fees, or if they genuinely have a preponderance of debit vs credit customers, so they assume the most common.
Debit charges either don't cost them anything and/or they can make money on them while credit card purchases always cost them money. This is why they push debit. It all has to do with their bottom line and nothing to do with the customer.
I've run into two problems: 1. Broken NFC readers. The reader triggers the Passbook app but the iPhone says "move closer to pay terminal" despite being on top of it. From what I can tell, it's just that restaurant that has the issue; others online have reported no problems using ApplePay at the chain. 2. No refunds. A coin op vending machine retrofitted with NFC reader charges my credit card as soon as it scans my iPhone. If the machine is sold out, no refunds. The machine still takes and gives refunds in coins, but instead of refunding you in coins, you get nothing. No, a credit does not eventually appear on your credit card.
Both aren't problems with NFC or Apple Pay technology, but they are problems with the way NFC is implemented in the real world.
Only had one failed scan attempt ever. Always comes up and green done (and goes through) within a couple seconds. Of top of my head: local grocery store, Walgreens, Subway, McD, Home Depot. I do not pay attention to apple pay "partner" list. If I see contactless payment icon, I try it. CVS was the only place so far to appear to have that capability and reject it. Cashiers don't seem to be confused by it; most don't seem to notice what means I use on the terminal (swipe or contactless).
McDonalds is a franchise, and depending on the locations and owners, it can be very smooth for Apple Pay. Stables required me to sign afterwards, which slowed things down. WholeFoods and Wallgreens are good too, and I see they improved transaction speed over the last couple of month. But one time Walgreens did have problem with the NFC terminal and asked me to use CC instead.
The vending machines at Chicago Union Station also worked great with Apple Pay.
I don't like shopping at at Stables, WholeFoods and Wallgreens, since they are obvious knock-offs of Staples, Whole Foods, and Walgreen's.
Part of the problem is that some people have made incorrect assumptions as to how it works, especially when asked to enter a PIN or sign their name. They assumed they would not have do any of that. Wrong.
Bottom line though is that it will be years before I can leave all my credit cards and wallet at home, if ever. So using using ?Pay AND carrying my cards around is kind of redundant and stupid at this point. This is definitely a chicken/egg scenario right now. Add to that the cultural aversion to change in the U.S. and stagnation wins.
Apple is finding out first hand why Google Wallet never caught on and CurrentC will be stillborn.
Comments
Not with contactless cards.
I use it all the time and have no issues at the places I frequently visit. For me (at least the locations I visit) Walgreens is just as fast as Whole Foods. No extra tapping or prompts at Walgreens.
The only place I have had issues at is Home Depot. A friend in NJ says it works fine for him, yet for me in IL, I have had zero luck... and I've been trying for several months now. POS terminal even has the "tap to pay" icon. Yet it doesn't work.... it gets stuck at "processing".
In due time, it will be more accepted, especially come October, when new terminals will be required (if merchant doesn't want to deal with fraudulent charges). I appreciate the places that already accept Apple Pay, and look forward to more and more places getting with the times.
This article also published a quote from an analyst that fraud was "as high as 8%". That is BS and was subsequently disproved. But Bloomberg quoted it
Quality of journalists and major news outlets (Retuers, Bloomberg, USA Today) has become just abysmal. The superstar writers are either working for startups or successfully creating their own Blog franchise. The rest just seem to just be pumping out error-prone articles lacking any real insights
Not with contactless cards.
Contactless cards are limited to transactions for £20-30 for this reason.
I really liked Apple Pay, and this artical may be overblown, but so is the lies lies lies
good that you have never had an issue, and no one that you know has,
I have, and I know quite a few people with iPhone 6, and all of them have experienced occasional problems.
Some stores (Harris teeter for example) At first it worked great, then i had issues where it would say "done" but it wasn't done, it might take 2 or 3 attempts then it might go through. Its unreliable enough now I seldom bother with it.
Once gas pumps take it, and it becomes more widespread and reliable, I will start using it again. For now - its simply not reliable enough
Sounds like we need to come up with a list of POS scanners that work all the time, work sometimes, or don't work at all. We also need to know how the POS terminal is configured. I know some stores let you swipe your card as soon as the cashier starts scanning items. I don't believe Apple Pay will work if you try and scan too early. It needs the final cost to properly complete the transaction. I also wonder where Apple is involved in the process. All POS terminals go through some kind of service provider before the Apple Pay transaction is completed. I know that because stores have the NFC component disabled while others only have it partially enabled. Apple might only be working with the head office of the stores they have qualified while it's up to the stores to make sure each location works. You seem to have found several that haven't figured out how to properly configure their local system to get it to work.
As for gas stations, I wonder how this is going to work. I use Costco with my Amex card, which notifies me when I make a purchase (with and without Apple Pay). I am pre-authorized for $150 then the final amount is handled behind the scenes and I'm not notified. My Costco Amex serves as my membership card, which is required to operate the pump. How will this change when they take Apple Pay? Will I use my phone as a membership card (why not? just flash the phone with the membership card as I enter the store) to authorize access to the pump, then use it again when I'm done to complete the transaction? Do I do it only at the beginning and it finalizes the transaction when I put the pump handle back in?
I'd really like to see NFC tags added to all merchandise so I could simply use my phone to scan my basket and pick up then disable all the tags so I can bypass the checkout.
McDonalds is a franchise, and depending on the locations and owners, it can be very smooth for Apple Pay. Stables required me to sign afterwards, which slowed things down. WholeFoods and Wallgreens are good too, and I see they improved transaction speed over the last couple of month. But one time Walgreens did have problem with the NFC terminal and asked me to use CC instead.
The vending machines at Chicago Union Station also worked great with Apple Pay.
With me, the "solution" for most of my problems was making sure I picked "credit" rather than "debit".
Unless the cashier selects this for me, I usually just put my phone to the terminal without selecting my purchase type and it uses whatever type of card I have defined (both credit, none debit).
I've had small problems with it.
Not scanning is the biggest. This had a lot to do with where I held my iPhone. On the McDonalds terminal, it has the red piece that says scan here, but I found I have 100% success if I hold it over the terminal itself instead of 3 inches further up on the red area.
Saying done and nothing happened. This had everything to do with the cashier rather than Apple Pay. S/he simply didn't select NFC on their register. They're too used to automatically selecting debit as the payment method. I had one lady insist she did it correctly until her supervisor came over to pressed the right option. That day was the first day I used Apple Pay. This can result in Apple Pay saying done multiple times. I think "done" means more that it linked and transmitted information rather than confirming a transaction took place. It probably doesn't mean you got billed when it says done because that would mean information went back and forth to the phone.
Anyway, it works fine with me whenever I can remember to use it. And since I'm usually staring at my phone while waiting in line, it has become faster than debit.
Used to automatically selecting debit... not credit? I guess this is McDonalds. I wonder when cashiers say, "debit?" if they are trying to persuade me to use debit for lower fees, or if they genuinely have a preponderance of debit vs credit customers, so they assume the most common.
Invariably in the USA merchants are not equipped to deal with "contactless" pay. I usually ask if they will be supporting "contactless" soon and I get a variety of answers, ranging from "what's that" to "it's too expensive". I do not know how accurate this is but one high street merchant told me it would cost them $1000 up front just to get the equipment.
Whether that was FUD or not, I really believe that Apple can make this technology ubiquitous by putting in place a business to roll out and support "contactless" pay directly at the merchant level, subsidizing or directly providing the equipment. Absent such a grass-roots hand-holding exercise Apple pay availability will be spotty at best and a nice but rare option.
Come on Apple, there has to be a business case here. Don't wait for the banks. Give the merchants the technology and the support directly. Build a loyal high street merchant base and watch the whole halo-effect unfold (again).
Used to automatically selecting debit... not credit? I guess this is McDonalds. I wonder when cashiers say, "debit?" if they are trying to persuade me to use debit for lower fees, or if they genuinely have a preponderance of debit vs credit customers, so they assume the most common.
Debit charges either don't cost them anything and/or they can make money on them while credit card purchases always cost them money. This is why they push debit. It all has to do with their bottom line and nothing to do with the customer.
1. Broken NFC readers. The reader triggers the Passbook app but the iPhone says "move closer to pay terminal" despite being on top of it. From what I can tell, it's just that restaurant that has the issue; others online have reported no problems using ApplePay at the chain.
2. No refunds. A coin op vending machine retrofitted with NFC reader charges my credit card as soon as it scans my iPhone. If the machine is sold out, no refunds. The machine still takes and gives refunds in coins, but instead of refunding you in coins, you get nothing. No, a credit does not eventually appear on your credit card.
Both aren't problems with NFC or Apple Pay technology, but they are problems with the way NFC is implemented in the real world.
Always comes up and green done (and goes through) within a couple seconds. Of top of my head: local grocery store, Walgreens, Subway, McD, Home Depot.
I do not pay attention to apple pay "partner" list. If I see contactless payment icon, I try it. CVS was the only place so far to appear to have that capability and reject it. Cashiers don't seem to be confused by it; most don't seem to notice what means I use on the terminal (swipe or contactless).
Quote:
McDonalds is a franchise, and depending on the locations and owners, it can be very smooth for Apple Pay. Stables required me to sign afterwards, which slowed things down. WholeFoods and Wallgreens are good too, and I see they improved transaction speed over the last couple of month. But one time Walgreens did have problem with the NFC terminal and asked me to use CC instead.
The vending machines at Chicago Union Station also worked great with Apple Pay.
I don't like shopping at at Stables, WholeFoods and Wallgreens, since they are obvious knock-offs of Staples, Whole Foods, and Walgreen's.
Part of the problem is that some people have made incorrect assumptions as to how it works, especially when asked to enter a PIN or sign their name. They assumed they would not have do any of that. Wrong.
Bottom line though is that it will be years before I can leave all my credit cards and wallet at home, if ever. So using using ?Pay AND carrying my cards around is kind of redundant and stupid at this point. This is definitely a chicken/egg scenario right now. Add to that the cultural aversion to change in the U.S. and stagnation wins.
Apple is finding out first hand why Google Wallet never caught on and CurrentC will be stillborn.
We've had two keynotes on the Apple Watch already. If Apple haven't made it clear that the Apple Watch is easier by now, they're not going to.