I've seen those Visa commercials during the Olympics where the card is tapped, no signature, and no verification of card ownership. Have these sequences been shortened or could I "steal" a Visa card and use it without any authentication, at least until the owner calls the card company to have it shut off? If so, I see it as a bad thing, especially when compared to ApplePay.
Thera are limits for number and/or amount of transactions after that you are asked to provide your pin code. S o no card gives unlimited money
A continuing annoyance with retailers in the US is their insistence in requiring a signature with the use of ApplePay. Completely unnecessary and undermines the security built into the system. Maddening.
There is little doubt these days that the U.S. has become a technology backwater, a tech third world country. Hell, we’re still not on the metric system. True broadband Internet access is almost non-existent outside a few big cities. Companies like Apple, Space X, and the rest can’t find enough qualified U.S. high-tech workers because our educational system is woefully inadequate.
You see evidence of this all the time. The US is populated by dolts. There are some great quotes about this: Isaac Azimov decried the assertion that someone's ignorance was as valid as another's knowledge. Carl Sagan pointed out that we live in a technological society where very few people are technically literate. I have family members that think an iMac is "too complicated" to use Messages. On and on.
This is one of those things that will just take time. As others have pointed out, one of the things holding back adoption is the uncertainty over whether a terminal at a given store supports it. Initially, I tried to use ApplePay everywhere - but less than half the terminals even supported NFC-based payments, so I was thwarted. Then, as the number of NFC terminals grew, so did the number of vendors actively preventing the use of it. Sometimes it was because they just didn't want the additional hassle or lack of training of the cashiers, but more often it was just a corporate decision to prevent invasion into 'their turf'. See Walmart, Target for national retailers who refuse to adopt NFC-based payment methods. They try to pass it off as being for the customer's own good - these payment methods 'confuse users'. But in actuality it's for their own self-serving interests (e.g. in case of Walmart, they want to steer folks away from credit cards - where they have to pay a transaction fee - to their own payment platform...no matter how clumsy theirs is :-(
I recently saw a statistic that 50% of retailers now support ApplePay. While that may be true, it doesn't mean that it's available in 50% of the place one frequents. Maybe I'm an outlier, but of the stores I frequent on a regular basis - Harris Teeter, Target, TJMax, local movie theatre, StarBucks, Trader Joe, Earth Fare - only the latter 3 support ApplePay and one of them - StarBucks - supports it, but I use their store card to accumulate freebies. So definitely less than 50%. Thinking about it, it seems that ApplePay is much more likely to be accepted at the smaller retailers or non-chains.
In the end, ApplePay is far superior to credit cards in terms of security and privacy. The added speed/convenience is just icing on the cake.
I use ApplePay wherever it is available. But it often isn't available. They have plenty of banks signed, but need to concentrate now on getting retailers to support it.
I love ApplePay and use it everywhere it's available. I got a notice yet again from Bank of America that my credit card was involved in some mass breach and that I have to go through the headaches to update my credit card info on sites that automatically charge my card. It's a real pain in the backside. The sooner we can get to a system that doesn't involve my credit card having to be stored somewhere, the better.
I agree that training is paramount. Just last week when I found out the hard way that my BofA card was declined, I was buying some pricey shoes and I noticed the register had an ApplePay logo on it. The clerk had zero idea how to use it and I just ended up using a backup credit card that I use only for emergencies.
I firmly believe that ApplePay will reach the masses here in the U.S. when it's available at gas stations and ATM's. Many gas stations now have NFC pads on them, and they do recognize my iPhone, but not able to complete the transaction with it. It's almost getting there.
Pretty exciting stuff actually.
Exactly right. Gas stations are starting to adopt it and it's a perfect use case. Diddling around my wallet and card, typing in my ZIP code, etc. is much less convenient and fast than using my phone (or even better Apple Watch). Sheetz just added Apple Pay support and I hear that other big companies have too in recent months.
Ironically, it's supposed to be dangerous to use a phone near the gas pump.
Yeah its a sad world for apple pay users when cashiers dont know if it works and most iphone users aren't sure where you can use or when. The beauty of Samsung Pay is that it works everywhere, no need to guess or look for signs to see if its compatible. No need for retail stores to buy new registers that are compatible, every register within the last 40 years is compatible already, makes life a lot easier when you know it will work no matter where you want to use it.
I saw someone use Apple Pay a few months ago; it was the first (and only) time I've seen anyone use it. "Tap to pay" cards are pretty commonplace here, so people generally just do that, myself included. I have an Apple Watch and a recent iPhone, but I've still never used Apple Pay.
This is one of those things that will just take time. As others have pointed out, one of the things holding back adoption is the uncertainty over whether a terminal at a given store supports it. Initially, I tried to use ApplePay everywhere - but less than half the terminals even supported NFC-based payments, so I was thwarted. Then, as the number of NFC terminals grew, so did the number of vendors actively preventing the use of it. Sometimes it was because they just didn't want the additional hassle or lack of training of the cashiers, but more often it was just a corporate decision to prevent invasion into 'their turf'. See Walmart, Target for national retailers who refuse to adopt NFC-based payment methods. They try to pass it off as being for the customer's own good - these payment methods 'confuse users'. But in actuality it's for their own self-serving interests (e.g. in case of Walmart, they want to steer folks away from credit cards - where they have to pay a transaction fee - to their own payment platform...no matter how clumsy theirs is :-(
I recently saw a statistic that 50% of retailers now support ApplePay. While that may be true, it doesn't mean that it's available in 50% of the place one frequents. Maybe I'm an outlier, but of the stores I frequent on a regular basis - Harris Teeter, Target, TJMax, local movie theatre, StarBucks, Trader Joe, Earth Fare - only the latter 3 support ApplePay and one of them - StarBucks - supports it, but I use their store card to accumulate freebies. So definitely less than 50%. Thinking about it, it seems that ApplePay is much more likely to be accepted at the smaller retailers or non-chains.
In the end, ApplePay is far superior to credit cards in terms of security and privacy. The added speed/convenience is just icing on the cake.
For many US citizens, Apple Pay (and mobile payments in general) are not as widespread as in other countries. Take your neighbour to the North. I do most of my small transactions now through my iPhone. Almost all food courts now accept it, as well as the SAQ (Quebec Liquor commission), Gas stations, many restaurants, Costco, Grocery stores, clothing stores, Sports Experts, most major pharmacies, etc. One big exception is Walmart, but we all know why they're doing it. I would say that 85-90% of the stores I frequent now all accept it. The only caveat is that there is a CAD$100 limit on contactless transactions. Kind of difficult to stay under especially at places like Costco.
The one part where Apple can do a better job is at educating people that it is more secure to use your phone for payment than to use your card. One silly question I often get from naysayers is, "What if your phone gets stolen?"
I saw someone use Apple Pay a few months ago; it was the first (and only) time I've seen anyone use it. "Tap to pay" cards are pretty commonplace here, so people generally just do that, myself included. I have an Apple Watch and a recent iPhone, but I've still never used Apple Pay.
Most people here in the US have probably never paid attention to whether their CC has a tap-to-pay symbol
Apple Pay was a great convenience for an American visiting the UK. I don't have a pin for my credit cards so retailers etc. always ask to see ID when I used them. Apple Pay works just like it ought to and just about everywhere.
Ditto that on my visit last fall. Accepted everywhere, no big deal. With the watch, my phone doesn’t even get waved around. Like the old Grey Poupon commercial: “It’s so civilized,”
You know, I caught myself doing that more than once at first. There’s something in the UI that moves you in that direction if you’re not focusing or are distracted (a common situation) at a terminal. Since my watch took over it’s no longer an issue.
That's a dumb graphic. You can't authenticate the payment without having your finger on the Touch ID.
You know, I see so many people actually trying to put their finger on the screen over the TouchID icon when authenticating instead of over the home button. Apple really needs to educate people on what ApplePay is, how to use it, and where to use it.
Well I just use my Apple Watch for Apple Pay all the time. Does that count? How it’s use is not more widespread, I cannot fathom.
It's not as widespread as it should be because of peoples prejudices. They think that it's not as secure. When I explain to them that having access to my phone they can not use it to make any purchases or get any information from it since no name or card number ever appears on it, they start to understand. On the other hand with my PayPass Mastercard they can go on a shopping spree anywhere contactless payments are accepted.
For Apple Pay to become truly universal and not dependent on the banks’ glacial decision making and internal empire/turf protection, Apple needs to cut a deal with Visa and MasterCard for its own virtual cards, paid through iTunes accounts.
The #1 problem is that although many terminals support NFC payments the staff have no idea and it is not clear whether it does or not. So rather than looking like a boob holding their phone near the terminal and hoping for something to happen, most people use cards. It drives me crazy at my local grocery store seeing all the iPhone owners muck around with inserting a credit card waiting for the remove card beep-beep while I just wave my phone. It amazes me that the grocery store does nor promote Apple Pay in a big way as it saves so much time at checkout.
It doesn't amaze me at all. Grocery stores are actively promoting "self checkouts" so as to reduce the number of employees as much as possible. Training people costs time and that costs money. There is actually very very little in it for stores. It is a reputation, customer experience thing only. It will catch on over time, as kids like to use their phones for everything.
I made a big deal out of it at Safeway. Fairly, their twitter account was actively responding, claiming they were sending my reports of non use and errors to the IT department. No idea if they actually did, but they did adopt in October, and while the functionality seems to be improving, it is still a bit unreliable. The checkers, of course, do not care.
I prefer Apple Pay for the security.
Doing a "checkout" while your actually putting things in the basket, or scanning the whole basket in one go, is the ideal, getting everything out like what happens now at the checkout is dumb.
Yeah its a sad world for apple pay users when cashiers dont know if it works and most iphone users aren't sure where you can use or when. The beauty of Samsung Pay is that it works everywhere, no need to guess or look for signs to see if its compatible. No need for retail stores to buy new registers that are compatible, every register within the last 40 years is compatible already, makes life a lot easier when you know it will work no matter where you want to use it.
Yeah its a sad world for apple pay users when cashiers dont know if it works and most iphone users aren't sure where you can use or when. The beauty of Samsung Pay is that it works everywhere, no need to guess or look for signs to see if its compatible. No need for retail stores to buy new registers that are compatible, every register within the last 40 years is compatible already, makes life a lot easier when you know it will work no matter where you want to use it.
99% of the time if it takes one, it takes the other. Yes, cashiers are often clueless, but they are clueless to both. Get your head out of your ass.
In the end, ApplePay is far superior to credit cards in terms of security and privacy. The added speed/convenience is just icing on the cake.
In a terminal that supports NFC, a chip based credit card transaction is handled exactly in the same way as a NFC transaction (like Apple Pay). In terms of security they are very similar. The one is not superior than the other
In the end, ApplePay is far superior to credit cards in terms of security and privacy. The added speed/convenience is just icing on the cake.
In a terminal that supports NFC, a chip based credit card transaction is handled exactly in the same way as a NFC transaction (like Apple Pay). In terms of security they are very similar. The one is not superior than the other
Not true. Apple Pay is more secure. I was the victim of CC fraud when using a supposedly secure chip card. A transaction in China, where the bank said I must have been physically present as the chip card was used in a terminal.
Apple Pay staggering along because most stores don't accept it. Here in NYC where stores are plentiful many big ones don't accept it like Target, Home Depot, CVS etc.
Small stores , few accept it. This is due to the NFC terminal they need to accept it and needless to say the small stores dont have the newer terminals.
Hopefully this all changes in the future as Apple Pay is an asset and convenience to have
Comments
I recently saw a statistic that 50% of retailers now support ApplePay. While that may be true, it doesn't mean that it's available in 50% of the place one frequents. Maybe I'm an outlier, but of the stores I frequent on a regular basis - Harris Teeter, Target, TJMax, local movie theatre, StarBucks, Trader Joe, Earth Fare - only the latter 3 support ApplePay and one of them - StarBucks - supports it, but I use their store card to accumulate freebies. So definitely less than 50%. Thinking about it, it seems that ApplePay is much more likely to be accepted at the smaller retailers or non-chains.
In the end, ApplePay is far superior to credit cards in terms of security and privacy. The added speed/convenience is just icing on the cake.
Take your neighbour to the North. I do most of my small transactions now through my iPhone.
Almost all food courts now accept it, as well as the SAQ (Quebec Liquor commission), Gas stations, many restaurants, Costco, Grocery stores, clothing stores, Sports Experts, most major pharmacies, etc. One big exception is Walmart, but we all know why they're doing it. I would say that 85-90% of the stores I frequent now all accept it.
The only caveat is that there is a CAD$100 limit on contactless transactions. Kind of difficult to stay under especially at places like Costco.
The one part where Apple can do a better job is at educating people that it is more secure to use your phone for payment than to use your card.
One silly question I often get from naysayers is, "What if your phone gets stolen?"
It's not as widespread as it should be because of peoples prejudices.
They think that it's not as secure.
When I explain to them that having access to my phone they can not use it to make any purchases or get any information from it since no name or card number ever appears on it, they start to understand. On the other hand with my PayPass Mastercard they can go on a shopping spree anywhere contactless payments are accepted.
Apple needs to control the whole experience.
Apple Pay staggering along because most stores don't accept it. Here in NYC where stores are plentiful many big ones don't accept it like Target, Home Depot, CVS etc.
Small stores , few accept it. This is due to the NFC terminal they need to accept it and needless to say the small stores dont have the newer terminals.
Hopefully this all changes in the future as Apple Pay is an asset and convenience to have