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Apple Pay - A year later, what's the verdict?

Zimmy68

Zimmy68

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 23, 2008
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Hopefully this is the right area. I apologize if not.

First, I love the idea of Apple Pay and it works exactly as advertised, easy and secure.

But here we are a year later and I am not seeing the support.

Maybe if you live in NY or LA, but here in a fairly large market (Tampa Bay) the options to use it are minuscule.

I thought the issue would be that rival company that had all the vendors locked up in a contract but that doesn't seem to be the problem.

I can count on my hands how many times I was actually able to use Apple Pay.
Unless I am going to Whole Foods, Walgreens, or McDonalds, it just isn't an option.

The other stores I frequent; Best Buy, Publix, Target, and Costco don't seem to be in any hurry to join in.

I'm hoping that will change in the future but I have my doubts.
 
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I am using it more and more as I go out and notice places have the Apple Pay logo. In the beginning and even after months I could only use it as a very few places.
 
I think when stores are forced to switch to chip and pin machines we will see better support. Those machines will allow NFC payments by default.

Another road block is the Current-C coalition that includes Walmart/Bestbuy/ect. Their exclusive deal runs out this year so that will open even more stores to ApplePay.
 
I think you'll be seeing a lot more of it soon. Next month is the deadline for merchants to upgrade their equipment to accommodate chip cards. Most of those machines will be NFC capable as well.
 
I haven't used Apple Pay because I'm still on Android until the 25th, but I've used Google Wallet a bit. Apple Pay and Google Wallet are accepted in many places here in Chicago, but the logos for either are not always present. A lot of people don't realize that they are accepted whenever this logo is present.

Screen-Shot-2014-10-20-at-10.00.38-AM.png
 
I really want to like it but it's implementation is so random it's annoying. Same goes for Android equivalent. In many stores it's easier to pull out your credit card and just swipe it. Some stores only half the registers take it (Panera) so you have to be ready to either swipe or thumb which kills the convenience. Some stores you still have to sign (depending on dollar amount which varies by chain) and some you don't. You still have to chose debit or credit in many stores, then use the phone, then sign. Way too many steps. Might as well just use credit cards. Then returns send a lot of cashiers into oblivion. What, no card? Sorry, no return. Talk to a manger or go to customer service or whatever. More time wasted.

In THEORY all these system are great but until they all get along and all require the identical procedure it's pretty much nothing but another "look at me I'm cool" gimmick.

Hopefully in the next couple years Apple & Android and the merchants and the credit card companies will all get together but like the Dems (Apple) and the Repubs (Android) it will be a LONG time if ever.

Edit: and it is not true that all stores with the logo in the previous message also take Applepay. I manage a UPS Store and our machines with that logo take Android Pay but not Apple. You do get the "beep" but it doesn't process the payment. That is a limit of the credit card processor.
 
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Love it, just wish it was more widely available. Still a niche thing. I know some people go out of their way to only shop where Apple Pay is accepted, I'm to lazy for all that nonsense!
 
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I love it and use it all the time via my Watch.

Contactless is widely used here in the UK, so if I can I just use my Watch.

If it's over £20 (soon to be £30) I obviously have to use my card, but more often than not, I can go into the shop without even taking my wallet and that I really like.
 
In the UK we have loads of places that support Apple Pay but can only purchase amounts under £20, or £30 it might be now with the exception being the Apple store.

I use it quite a lot for quick things or if I don't have my wallet so I find it really handy but I want to be able to use it for any amount.
 
I try to use it wherever it is accepted. However, most of the time the cashier will look at me like I'm from Neptune. This is only made worse by holding my wrist out for them to scan. Starbucks is the only place that I feel they know what's up. And that's not even using Apple Pay, just the bar code from my SB card, on my watch.
 
I like it and will use it whenever it is available. Still awkward since the reader may be present but the store doesn't have it enabled or the cashier has never had anyone use it. I also find it annoying when the store still requires my signature. Just don't understand why they still want me to scribble nonsense on their screen after a very deliberate and secure transaction.
 
Just curious, but why doesn't Apple Pay off retailers to use :apple:pay?

My thinking is this:
With Music then Apple paid artists, made incentives towards record labels and even staged fake media-chomping controversies with Taylor Swift to get people to join them. So why not use the same strategy with Retailers?

IF Apple really wanted :apple:pay to launch strong then couldn't they have offered incentives to establish partnerships? As much as people used CurrentC as a scapegoat for many popular retailers, we've learned that those contracts weren't very solid and Apple could have easily snagged up a hefty list of major players in order to silidifu their place in the market.


Paying for goods is such a muscle memory that it seems like a waste for Apple to not exercise every option in order to get more support. Because at this point then for many people :apple:pay is suffering the Siri effect. People have tried and failed with it enough times that they no longer have a desire to integrate it into their life.
 
I am seeing a lot more merchants who have the equipment to take the payments but they are blocked to where they will always decline or not go through. So eventually when this has happened to me I would get annoyed and just pull out my credit card from my wallet. Takes away all the fun and kinda makes you look like a tool for going out of your way to pay with ApplePay when you could have just paid with a credit card in the first place.
 
Azzin said:
I love it and use it all the time via my Watch.

Contactless is widely used here in the UK, so if I can I just use my Watch.

If it's over £20 (soon to be £30) I obviously have to use my card, but more often than not, I can go into the shop without even taking my wallet and that I really like.
Click to expand...

I used Apple Pay in M&S yesterday for shopping over £45, so I'm unsure what shops have a £30 limit. Perhaps they are treating Apple Pay in the same way as chip & pin credit cards (i.e. the limit is the credit limit your card has).

What I've started doing is, I take my card just incase, but I try and pay the amount with Apple Pay, even if its over £30 and see what happens, at least if it won't go through, I have my credit card to fall back on. I nearly handed my credit card over yesterday in M&S (as my shopping was over £30) but in the end I thought I would try and pay with Apple Pay to see what happened :)

On another post on here, someone told me they spend nearly £350 in an Apple Store with Apple Pay.

My card issuer only started allowing their credit cards to be added to Apple Pay on the 11 September. Since then I have used it instead of my credit card. I was really impressed at the speed and ease of using it.

Thing to remember is. There isn't a lot of places showing the Apple Pay logo on the terminals (or around them) but if they are contactless terminals, you can use Apple Pay :)
 
I *think* the situation is that that Apple Pay "Launch Partners" (such as M&S) aren't subject to the £20/£30 contactless limit.

Apple stores are the same (bit pointless otherwise!).
 
Tried it once at Walgreens during the first week of launch. It failed...haven't used it since.

I mean I could see myself using it with some Apps (Apple Store and maybe Best Buy and Target) but the stores/places are just too limited.

Would use it every day if:
- My college student union supported it
- Places like Costco and Safeway supported it
- Not to mention the process seems to be not really be consistent (credit vs debit, store vs store, etc, employee training, equipment malfunction)

Swiping the card just works universally.

I mean I really want to be in a world where I don't need a wallet (everything is on phone) but the fact that I still need to carry my wallet (need ID, cash, etc.), it makes Apple Pay and in general mobile payments a lot less appealing.

One day though...

I mean the one good thing is I can totally see a day where I forgot to bring my wallet and still be able to survive with Apple Pay if I limit myself to some choices.
 
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Recently found out that he grocery store I go to accepts it, and I've been seeing quite a few other places that take it. So mostly I'm using Apple Pay or cash and only occasionally still swiping my card.
 
My bank, Citizens, just got Apply pay and I was so looking forward to it. But man, I have to say it's a huge let down. Anywhere and everywhere I go doesn't accept it. And I go to a decent amount of stores. It's been over a week and I have yet to fond a store that actually accepts it, and most of the workers I ask have no idea what I am even talking about. I stopped even bothering to ask or trying to use it. It's just easier and quicker to pull out my debit card and use that then go through the trouble and waste of time trying to see if Apple Pay works. So yeah I basically gave up on it. Maybe in a few months or a year I'll try to use it again or if I see it advertised in a particular store that they accept it. Until then, the trusty old card works just fine everywhere!

Jay
 
It's a dud. Had a lot of potential but the places you can use it are minimal. My other device is a Note 5 - looking at Samsung Pay - that looks like what Apple should have done.
 
Rhonindk said:
It's a dud. Had a lot of potential but the places you can use it are minimal. My other device is a Note 5 - looking at Samsung Pay - that looks like what Apple should have done.
Click to expand...

I feel that most of us have forgotten the security benefit and merely looking at it from a convenience perspective. Also, I'm not sure how many year it took for the credit card industry to be wide spread enough for daily use, but I'm sure it took more than 2 years.
 
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aajeevlin said:
I feel that most of us have forgotten the security benefit and merely looking at it from a convenience perspective. Also, I'm not sure how many year it took for the credit card industry to be wide spread enough for daily use, but I'm sure it took more than 2 years.
Click to expand...

"It (Samsung Pay) uses tokenization, which means that your actual credit card isn't sent, instead it uses a temporary one that Visa or Mastercard creates for you."

This looks to be as secure as Apple Pay is or really darn close. :cool:
Security is great but if you can't utilize the functionality you receive no benefit. :eek: As only about 20% of the places I shop accept AP, it does me little benefit to utilize it. Samsung Pay on the other hand looks to have a much broader venue.
 
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