So I've been trying to find the answer to this all over and can't. So I understand you don't need your iPhone with you to make an Apple Pay purchase. So how does the watch verify that you have funds if it can't connect to the internet since the iPhone is not present to make that connection?
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Apple Pay without iPhone
- Thread starter Juanefny
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The iPhone has NEVER verified funds. If you use a CC by itself how does it verify funds? It is the CC terminal that does this.
My best guess is that all Apple Pay does is say "I'm a credit card!". The processing of if you have funds available is still run through the terminals at the Point of Sales devices at retailers.
A curious test would be to put your phone on airplane mode and try to make a purchase with Apple Pay.
A curious test would be to put your phone on airplane mode and try to make a purchase with Apple Pay.
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Your Apple Watch, just like your iPhone 6/6 Plus, works like a virtual credit card, nothing more. No internet connection is needed for either device for the transaction to work.
The attempted charge will make the merchant reach out to your credit card company (or bank, if it's a debit card) to make sure the funds are available.
It is only at that point where your iPhone, if it has a data connection, may give back a push notification from your credit card company or bank that a transaction occurred, and if your Watch is near your iPhone, it will receive the same notification as well.
Think about your debit/credit card. It's not connected to the internet. It's essentially the same thing. The NFC reader is the component that does all of the network communication.
The watch doesn't verify anything. It just transmits to the POS terminal the payment information (device account number, etc) which is stored on the watch itself, and it is the POS terminal that will then connect to the bank and verify that you have funds and authorize the payment. That's why you don't need the iPhone nearby.
If only we had this information 3 and half years ago!
Yes this has worked since day 1 of the original Apple Watch. Your iPhone also works doing this when in AirPlane mode.
