What is the difference between this and the Apple Wallet? When I use Apple Wallet, I can add any credit card and pay through the sensor on the back of the phone, right?
But I've had bad experiences with Apple Wallet in the past, sometimes it doesn't sense, or has trouble sensing correctly.
I guess it might need to sense the right spot on the back of the phone, but sometimes the payment sensors in stores are cluttered or cramped, which makes it even harder to sense.
When you have people in line behind you, it's embarrassing to have the sensor fail and you have to give up and pay with cash or a "real credit card" from your pocketbook.
Apple Card is a specific card that can use Apple Pay. It can also, allegedly, be applied for and the card virtually added in minutes, according to this ad. Other cards can also do the same, but only through their specific banking apps (ie American Express or Bank of America), Apple’s is capable right from Apple Wallet of applying and Apple Wallet is built into iPhones (in the United States, Apple Card isn’t available in any other countries).
The iPhone’s NFC antenna is around the top of the phone, you should essentially “point” the phone right at the terminal. Look for the contactless logo on the payment terminal as well, the logo is like a WiFi symbol. Usually, but not always, where you physically see a contactless logo is where you point the phone. Or, there are green dots on the screen and you can point right at the screen. You wait until the phone clicks or the reader beeps to take your phone away, don’t pull it away too early.
Also, if you’re in the United States, many stores will simply not take contactless payments at all. They should be criticized for that but it’s just the way it is. Often stores have their own payment system and don’t want you to use a phone’s built in system, instead force you into using their own app with QR code scanning like Walmart Pay.
Fun little fact, some readers let you pay while the cashier is scanning, the actual payment goes through at the end when they finish scanning, but the info is captured and used. So you can save time by trying while they’re scanning. This also works with chip cards. But usually this is applicable for a reader that says to insert or tap, if it says that it means you can start immediately, but if it says nothing it probably needs to finish the scanning first. So if it says tap or insert you can try it with Apple Pay to see if it works immediately, and at worst you take the same amount of time pulling your card out, depending on how long it takes to scan your items.
