Apple Pay is one of the best and most useful features I have ever used. And clearly my favourite. I cannot imagine going back to old method of swiping or inserting the card then signing the receipt or entering the PIN. With iOS 9, the tapping the iPhone and pressing the TouchID are so fast, and the entire transaction took no more than five seconds at most. What's more, there's no amount limit on transaction: the most expensive I paid with Apple Pay was €285 for SSD at Conrad Electronic in Munich. No signature or PIN needed. I also get the e-mail alert from my bank if there's too many transactions in one go or if one transaction exceeds my normal spending habit, allowing me to respond quickly whether they are legit or fraudulent.
What surprised me the most is that Apple Pay works at many retail, food, and service establishments in Germany and Austria. Yes, you read it right: Germany and Austria! Even Starbucks Coffee in Germany accepted Apple Pay since the day one in October 2014. In Germany, more and more have installed the NFC-enabled card readers
integrated with their Point-of-Sale terminals, making card transactions
smoother and quicker than before and allowing more widespread use of
MasterCard and Visa. ALDI Süd, the stalwart of cheapness, even promoted
the new card readers and encouraged the consumers to use contactless
payments with both cards. Paying for hamburgers at McDonalds? No
problem! A guy filmed the Apple Pay transaction at REWE supermarket in January 2015 (remember that was with iOS 8, which was slower than iOS 9).
In Austria, I have yet come across card reader that does not accept Apple Pay. What an incredible shopping experience!
I certainly hope Apple will add Germany and Austria to its growing list of countries this year.
I am still not sure about the convenience of paying contactless with my phone verses paying with a contactless card. I can imagine many people dropping their phone at drive throughs. I guess the advantage is if the merchant has a loyalty card, such as KFC or subway, and this is linked with the payment system, it will ensure you get your points. Does it work that way?
What surprised me the most is that Apple Pay works at many retail, food, and service establishments in Germany and Austria. Yes, you read it right: Germany and Austria! Even Starbucks Coffee in Germany accepted Apple Pay since the day one in October 2014. In Germany, more and more have installed the NFC-enabled card readers
integrated with their Point-of-Sale terminals, making card transactions
smoother and quicker than before and allowing more widespread use of
MasterCard and Visa. ALDI Süd, the stalwart of cheapness, even promoted
the new card readers and encouraged the consumers to use contactless
payments with both cards. Paying for hamburgers at McDonalds? No
problem! A guy filmed the Apple Pay transaction at REWE supermarket in January 2015 (remember that was with iOS 8, which was slower than iOS 9).
In Austria, I have yet come across card reader that does not accept Apple Pay. What an incredible shopping experience!
I certainly hope Apple will add Germany and Austria to its growing list of countries this year.
European NFC terminals accepting NFC payments, I'm not sure what is so surprising about this. It's your bank's enabling of of Pay that makes it work.
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Anyone else seeing this???
What surprised me the most is that Apple Pay works at many retail, food, and service establishments in Germany and Austria. Yes, you read it right: Germany and Austria! Even Starbucks Coffee in Germany accepted Apple Pay since the day one in October 2014. In Germany, more and more have installed the NFC-enabled card readers integrated with their Point-of-Sale terminals, making card transactions smoother and quicker than before and allowing more widespread use of MasterCard and Visa. ALDI Süd, the stalwart of cheapness, even promoted the new card readers and encouraged the consumers to use contactless payments with both cards. Paying for hamburgers at McDonalds? No problem! A guy filmed the Apple Pay transaction at REWE supermarket in January 2015 (remember that was with iOS 8, which was slower than iOS 9).
In Austria, I have yet come across card reader that does not accept Apple Pay. What an incredible shopping experience!
I certainly hope Apple will add Germany and Austria to its growing list of countries this year.