Apple Announces 'Apple Pay' Mobile Payment Solution, Enabled at Over 220,000 U.S. Merchants

Tankmaze said:
Until this thing available worldwide as soon as possible, it would be vaporware..
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Contactless payment terminals are already widespread in Europe. From the video it looks like ApplePay uses the same terminals, there's nothing proprietary at the retailer's end.

Have to say, using a contactless NFC credit card at the moment is already very quick and easy. Not sure on the idea of pulling out my phone, opening up the Passbook app, selecting a credit card, and then operating TouchID while over the terminal sensor.

At the moment I can just wave my card (or my phone with a paytag stuck on to it) over the terminal and I'm done:

http://youtu.be/uElc6VKr3Lc?t=8s
 
AFPoster said:
Awesome. Now I can cancel my OnlyCoin orders because that's now useless. Chip and Pin as well is in for a fight.
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I'm getting a refund on my Coin anyways cause they promised to ship them....right now around this time. It got pushed back to Summer 2015 and only the beta users get them now, I was not accepted into the beta.

I've sent them numerous emails asking for a refund cause they said anyone could if they wanted to, they have yet to respond.
 
Contactless is pretty widespread in America -- they've been embedded in certain credit cards for years. This will be plenty useful.

I think the biggest thing about this is security. Payments can only be made with your fingerprint, and the retailer doesn't receive any information about your magnetic strip or even your name, just a unique transaction ID. So the next time Target gets hacked, the Apple Pay customers won't have to worry about their credit card data getting stolen.

Just don't lose your phone! (Find my iPhone, but still)
 
Or I could just pull out my credit card instead of looking to see if the checkout supports Apple Pay and wondering if the mouth-breather at the register knows what it is.

Between this and the mehWatch, the theme for today's event seemed to be reinventing the wheel.
 
CoMoMacUser said:
Or I could just pull out my credit card instead of looking to see if the checkout supports Apple Pay and wondering if the mouth-breather at the register knows what it is.
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As long as the register supports contactless NFC, it should work. In Canada probably 75% of the terminals do ... in the states, far less, haven't seen a single one yet, but I'm sure with the recent hacks, Apple Pay, and push by the credit card companies, they will roll out in very short order.
 
So they say this is meant to replace a wallet?
Nothing will ever replace cash - there will always be somewhere that won't accept anything else. And the adoption rate for contactless payment in this part of the world is non-existent as is. It's a great idea, but it would only work effectively with forced adoption, not something I think everyone would be happy about.
 
poppy10 said:
At the moment I can just wave my card (or my phone with a paytag stuck on to it) over the terminal and I'm done:

http://youtu.be/uElc6VKr3Lc?t=8s
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Yeah, this is not exclusive to the UK. You can walk into a gas station in the middle of nowhere USA and they have the card readers to be able to do the exact same thing.

I'm not even sure that Apple Pay is less convenient. You'll already be on your phone looking at a Snapchat while you're waiting in line to pay. You can electronically select the card you want to use, and bam.

Regardless of whether you think it'll be more convenient, it certainly seems like it will be far more secure. Retailers are supposed to check your signature on the back of the card (because that's real secure), or check your ID when you use the card, but few do. Apple Pay only works with your fingerprint.
 
johnnnw said:
I hate to be that guy but it's pretty funny seeing people on twitter saying this is "godlike" when NFC has been around for a LONG time.

I own no Android products but it's still annoying how blind people are.
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It is how it is implemented, not whether it ticks the bloody box. Android does a lot of things, just not as good. Oh and yes, I own a Galaxy S5 and also owned an Xperia Z2. iOS is superior in every way.
 
coolspot18 said:
As long as the register supports contactless NFC, it should work. In Canada probably 75% of the terminals do ... in the states, far less, haven't seen a single one yet, but I'm sure with the recent hacks, Apple Pay, and push by the credit card companies, they will roll out in very short order.
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The only place I've seen an NFC POS terminal is at Petco. I used it with my AMEX, and the clerk said, "Wow. Cool. I didn't know it could do that."

My MC recently expired, and Citi replaced it with a chip card. Now when I go to Sam's, I have to insert it into the reader instead of swiping it. A process that took a couple of seconds now takes 30ish. I don't mind, but the people behind me do, as do QSRs and other merchants that are always looking to shave every possible second off of the transaction process.
 
I'm actually very interested in this. I was actually looking forward to Passbook taking off. The idea of having your CCards, gift cards, even coupons all in one place whenever you need it it a great idea.

And as far as Google Wallet, and this being a rip off... I'm sure the concept is very similar, but I would assume this is going to be more than an exchange of CC numbers with a terminal.
 
blackhand1001 said:
Are you kidding? This is pretty much an exact clone of Google Wallet which came out in 2011. I have been using it almost daily since 2011 and I live in the US where according to some people where there isn't any contactless payments.
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With the sole exception of TouchID, it really does look quite similar.

  • Same merchants, because they all have NFC.
  • Same token based hiding of account numbers.
  • Partnerships with retailers for loyalty programs and gift cards.
  • API to allow developers to embed payment.
  • Same method of entering new card, including taking photo.
  • Same ability to remotely disable.

Even their Apple Pay page looks like the Google Wallet page.

google_wallet.png

I saw nothing really unique or new in the presentation or explanation, but perhaps my horrible connection made me miss something. I just hope Apple can handle NFC payments better than they handle video streams, and that they realize that they cannot take down their payment site to update it like they seem to have to do with all their other servers.
 
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Tankmaze said:
Until this thing available worldwide as soon as possible, it would be vaporware.

Apple need to moves fast to make apple pay work globally.
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do you understand what "vaporware" means? the day it exists in the US, it ceases to be vaporware.
 
Apple seems to have hoodwinked the public, making it seem as though they got all these merchants on board with Apple Pay and not that they are using existing infrastructure. I thought the commentary was funny when they announced Whole Foods and the crowd cheered, but they've had NFC terminals for several years around here.
 
CoMoMacUser said:
Or I could just pull out my credit card instead of looking to see if the checkout supports Apple Pay and wondering if the mouth-breather at the register knows what it is.



Between this and the mehWatch, the theme for today's event seemed to be reinventing the wheel.
Click to expand...


They always sell so many of their reinvented wheels, it's almost like the old wheels weren't all that good.
 
Anyone know if internet access is required to use Apple Pay? I see this as the big reason why I don't use Google Wallet. After Google Wallet came out, I tried using it a few times but I didn't have reception sometimes, so Google Wallet couldn't connect to the internet to verify the PIN. I don't see why a network connection should be required.
 
coolspot18 said:
It's nice and convenient, but still reinvents the wheel when there is already Visa Paywave for Mobile (and the MasterCard / Debit equivalent)
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Notice how Timmy went on about the dated magnetic strip and the hassle of all that entails ... been using a chip card for quite awhile, now, and it's no problem to do the tap & go ... too bad the US banking and retailers are such laggards in the bank card industry.

Been using bank cards for some long time and have yet to have them compromised - and I use them every day.
 
You don’t even have to look at the screen to know your payment information was successfully sent. A subtle vibration and beep lets you know.
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This makes me a tad bit nervous. I don't want to "approve" payments without seeing how much they're for. Hopefully something will still pop up on the screen they're just saying you wouldn't necessarily have to look at it.
 
Super handy, can't wait to get this one.

Although with the iCloud issues, I'm a little scared to have this info on my phone!
 
Won't work at Subway stores in my town (Missoula, MT). They have contactless payments setup, but have it disabled. Subway corporate has them setup, but apparently the local franchise owner told them not to allow them. I wrote a complaint to Subway, and a local manager called me back upset - upset that I told her they did allow it once. She said employees are under strict directions from the franchise owner not to allow contactless payment. I haven't been back to Subway in my town since, not that I go very often, but the attitude was ridiculous.
 
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