Apple Says 35% of U.S. Merchants Accept Apple Pay

[sinsin07]

It's kind of incredible how the US is so behind on payments technology, with the most widespread method of payment being an easily cloned magnetic strip and still using god damn signatures to verify payment!

In Toronto, ApplePay is accepted at somewhere nearing 99% of merchants because most merchants that accept debit cards already have tap payments built into their debit terminals. I haven't touched cash or my debit card in months.

The population of Canada is roughly 35-36 million which does even equal the state of California.
How many terminals you think Canada has to replace as opposed to US with over 300 mil people?
Yeah US is late to game, however a roll out in Canada ain't equivalent to a roll out in the US.

 

[Jsameds]

I have to say.... it is such a pleasure using Apple Pay over the new chip card terminals. Holy crap they are slow!

Wait, hold on, please insert you card, wait a bit more, just a sec, ok..Now enter your PIN *beepbeepbeepbeep* wait... oh, don't forget to press Enter...*beep*...OK now just wait a min, we're nearly done, almost done, ok now we're done please remove card, ok phew, we're done.

Vs


*click*...*beep*

 

[kdarling]

I think a lot of the EMV hate is exaggerated, honestly; otherwise I'd expect way more use of the Pays than there has been. Samsung Pay, for instance, should have been killing it with their usage numbers by virtue of being able to be used even at places without NFC--yet they aren't doing much better than Apple.

Apple is probably including hundreds of thousands of vending machines that now take NFC payment.

Samsung Pay's ability to be used nearly everwhere is having some effect, as its users' average weekly purchase total is slightly higher than that of Apple Pay users ($82 versus $75).

(All these articles would be easier to understand if they stopped referring to NFC acceptance as Apple Pay acceotance, which makes something that is general, sound exclusive / harder to happen.)

 

[Gasu E.]

An Apple Pay condom?

No need. Cell phones cause sterility.

 

[Broken Hope]

Wait, hold on, please insert you card, wait a bit more, just a sec, ok..Now enter your PIN *beepbeepbeepbeep* wait... oh, don't forget to press Enter...*beep*...OK now just wait a min, we're nearly done, almost done, ok now we're done please remove card, ok phew, we're done.

Vs


*click*...*beep*

Is the US implementation of chip and pin broken or something? In the UK you enter your card, wait about 2 seconds, enter your pin, wait about 2 more seconds and then you're done. Sure it's not the 1-2 seconds a contactless payment takes but it's not as bad as you're making out.

 

[tmiw]

Apple is probably including hundreds of thousands of vending machines that now take NFC payment.

Samsung Pay's ability to be used nearly everwhere is having some effect, as its users' average weekly purchase total is slightly higher than that of Apple Pay users ($82 versus $75).

(All these articles would be easier to understand if they stopped referring to NFC acceptance as Apple Pay acceotance, which makes something that is general, sound exclusive / harder to happen.)

That's still not much of a difference. I'd expect much higher than that if people were using either for anywhere close to all of their purchases.

Is the US implementation of chip and pin broken or something? In the UK you enter your card, wait about 2 seconds, enter your pin, wait about 2 more seconds and then you're done. Sure it's not the 1-2 seconds a contactless payment takes but it's not as bad as you're making out.

More like 5-6 seconds most of the time before you enter a PIN--if you're using a debit card. Unfortunately because stores want to have their 15-20 year old POSes handling payment processing instead of the terminals themselves, it might not get much better.

On the other hand, at least most go to Approved pretty quickly once you do enter the PIN. Or not, as almost no credit cards have a PIN.

 

[kstotlani]

It's not about saving small amounts of time. It's about watching what was a common everyday interaction made much worse and more annoying by badly designed technology. It's a regression in a world where things are only supposed to get better. I have no patience for people who derail discussions about bad technology on a technology board by screaming "first world problems".

I never said first world problems but thank you for answering. The chip card was introduced for frauds which causes a great loss to the system and guess where banks recover that loss from. Our pocket. That small bit of inconvenience went a long way to tackle fraud. Europe and Asian countries are using chip and pin for a very long time now. Apple Pay is certainly convenient but guess where banks will charge the extra money needed for Apple Pay. Once main stream Apple will raise the rates.

I have never been a fan of Apple Pay because it's my phone that I paid money to get however it becomes a tool for Apple to earn money and the benefit for me is 3 seconds.

 

[onesixright]

And the rest of the world is still waiting. Yet, another example of Apple's Geo Discrimination policy, US before everything else (yet we all pay same price). Incredible sad.

Already stood, i don't know how many times, at the register, wishing i could pay with my iPhone (since i forgot my wallet). Yet i can pay everywhere wirelessly!

 

[iGeek2014]

I'd be interested in usage outside North America. Chip & PIN and tap cards have been ubiquitous for over a decade or more in so many Western countries the benefit isn't really there, compared to the leap if you were still using signatures (haven't seen that in 20 years in the UK).

14th February 2006 was the day Chip and PIN became default meaning you could no longer sign for your transaction(s) here in the U.K.

For customers with accessibility difficulties they can request a swipe and sign card from their bank and sometimes if there's an issue with the POS/card it'll ask for a signature.

Some places seem to take their time processing Chip and PIN transactions but I'm talking a couple of extra seconds rather than minutes.

I'd rather use Apple Pay over Chip and PIN even if we have to periodically insert the physical card for security reasons (proof you're the card holder).

Nothing is 100% secure but knowing my actual card number can't be hacked at a retailers unless I use a bit of plastic to pay... "no brainer" in my eyes!

 

[Piggie]

I have to say.... it is such a pleasure using Apple Pay over the new chip card terminals. Holy crap they are slow!

So how long are you spending paying at the actual terminal as opposed to how long you are waiting in line to get to the checkout?

Whilst I always agree, quicker is better, it's rather pointless complaining about an extra, let's say 20 or 30 seconds at a pay terminal if you have had to wait for 2 to 5 minutes in the queue at the checkout.

 

[fatboyslick]

In the UK we've had EMV or Chip & Pin as we call it for over 5 years. It's been fantastic because we never really adopted the swipe (and sign) process so prevalent in the US.

Because it's been so easy for us many retailers here are slow on the uptake on contactless payment and even slower on Apple Pay.

It's definitely a generation thing though - my parents still write cheques and pay with cash


Oh and having recently been to the US and experienced both swipe and EMV, your EMV systems are slower than in the UK. Literally takes 10 seconds here and you put your card into a small terminal. At the retailers I visited last month in the US there were bulky terminals that still catered for swipe and sign and was clumsy

 

[Bacillus]

"Bailey also teased what was next for Apple Pay, saying that the company is thinking about everything in your wallet."
She conforms to the corporate Golden Standard. Promote her.

 

[lusky]

It's not about saving small amounts of time. It's about watching what was a common everyday interaction made much worse and more annoying by badly designed technology. It's a regression in a world where things are only supposed to get better. I have no patience for people who derail discussions about bad technology on a technology board by screaming "first world problems".

That's because its technology the rest of the world has been using for 20 years. of course it's slow at first but god it's easy. also it ties in well with NFC and apple/samsung. Why is the US only now catching up?

 

[Abazigal]

Not in my podunk neck of the woods. Lack of knowledge of it in the stores that actually support it astounds me.
"Do you take ApplePay?"
"Huh? What's that?"
"Never mind, I'll just....yes, you do."
"Wow, that's cool!"
"Mmmhmm"
Still using a signature for verification, even with ApplePay sometimes. It's ridiculous, so I just draw a smiley face for a signature.

Your experience is somewhat like mine.

"I would like to pay with Apple Pay."

"What's that?"

"Visa Paywave." (They use the same backend).

"Ah."

"Pays with iPhone."

It's so convenient when it's available.

 

[randian]

The big variable is whether the merchant has actually enabled NFC functionality on their POS equipment. I'm looking at you CVS, Kroger, Publix, Costco, and on, and on, and on. All of those places in my area have POS equipment that is capable of accepting NFC payments, but NFC has not been turned on for whatever reason.

Publix accepts Samsung pay. Their employees have been told Publix doesn't accept Apple Pay because it costs the company money. Since that's not true (Apple Pay doesn't increase the merchant fee), I smell a rat.

 

[tt7]

Or can the terminals be configured somehow to include a tip prompt and still use NFC? I don't think I've seen that.

Yes they can, given the right terminal. At dinner in Melbourne (Oz) last Friday, the terminal (brought to the table) prompted for a tip with suggestions of various percentages (a bit presumptious as we don't tip in Oz but you find restaurants that try it on). Just hit OK, hold your iPhone to the terminal and you're done.

 

[MacGizmo]

I don't get it. I can't find any stores besides Whole Foods, McDonalds and a few coffee shops that accept Apple Pay. And I live in the 7th largest city in the country. Hell, I can barely find places that have their stupid readers working properly for the chip cards.

 

[Parane]

I can't say it's a payment method that's catching on with me yet.

 

[archstan]

It's working perfectly here in Spain since the launch last week. Most terminals already accepted contactless payment by debit or credit card so Apple Pay just works. If the amount is over €30 it still asks for a pin but where they have updated their software, Zara for example, it goes straight through.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

I absolutely love Apple Pay. It's incredibly convenient and secure. The only thing that some payment machines need to change is the need to sign. I haven't signed my name for at least 3 years now. I just slash a line across there or draw a happy face.

EMV chip readers are ridiculously slow and a huge annoyance.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

Is the US implementation of chip and pin broken or something? In the UK you enter your card, wait about 2 seconds, enter your pin, wait about 2 more seconds and then you're done. Sure it's not the 1-2 seconds a contactless payment takes but it's not as bad as you're making out.

Yes, it's broken. It can take 30 seconds of leaving your card stuck in the machine sometimes.

And we're used to swipe - which is very fast, your card isn't in the machine for even half a second. From a consumer point of view, that insecure magstripe is far superior to EMV.

 

[Commentist]

I have to say.... it is such a pleasure using Apple Pay over the new chip card terminals. Holy crap they are slow!

We've had chip-and-pin (EMV) in the UK for a long time. I'm usually collecting goods/receipts/interacting with the cashier at the same time as the card reader is responding, so EMV is not obviously slower than contactless to me (especially as you occasionally need to enter a PIN with the contactless cards, and there will need to be an online handshake for most transactions, both contactless and EMV). My major delay is generally waiting in the checkout queue for my turn to be served. I haven't tried Apple Pay yet despite having it available for two years - I've not needed to and my phone is usually in a less convenient place than my wallet [and also more valuable/fragile], so I'd have to consciously want to try it out. I'll probably keep it for emergencies, since I wouldn't expect it to make much difference to total checkout time (except for direct entry as with the London Underground). Amazon Go does sound like it might be genuinely time saving, though - eliminating checkout queues/auto-registering each item could save a lot of time on a shop. Apple Pay online also doesn't sound like a big time saver, but could be more secure than entering card details.

 

[rizzo41999]

And the rest of the world is still waiting. Yet, another example of Apple's Geo Discrimination policy, US before everything else (yet we all pay same price). Incredible sad.

Already stood, i don't know how many times, at the register, wishing i could pay with my iPhone (since i forgot my wallet). Yet i can pay everywhere wirelessly!

To be fair, it is the country of which Apple resides. Kinda makes sense they would debut it there first.

 

[arkitect]

I have found here in the UK that it has less to do with the individual shops or "merchants" than with bank support.

So my banks all support Apple Pay. I have yet to find any contactless terminal here that didn't work with Apple Pay, regardless of any stickers or signs that say "Apple Pay Accepted".

Contactless accepted = Apple Pay accepted.

Can't remember when last I had to use cash… this weekend stopped at a tiny little village coffeeshop in the far south west and they had a small handheld terminal connected to their iPhone. Worked perfectly.

 

[Robert.Walter]

35% of all U.S. merchants accept Apple Pay? I don't buy that figure. Maybe 35% of all U.S. merchants have the ability to accept Apple Pay (as in, they have compatible equipment).

The big variable is whether the merchant has actually enabled NFC functionality on their POS equipment. I'm looking at you CVS, Kroger, Publix, Costco, and on, and on, and on. All of those places in my area have POS equipment that is capable of accepting NFC payments, but NFC has not been turned on for whatever reason.

The Costco near my house completely overhauled their gas pump POS equipment recently and it has the tap to pay/NFC logo right on the pump and the light is flashing inviting you to use NFC. Imagine my excitement when I tried to use my iPhone 6 to pay for gas for the first time ever. When my iPhone wasn't bringing up my debit card as it should've been, I tried using my Apple Watch. Nothing there, either. The Costco employee came over and asked me what I was doing. When I told him I was trying to use NFC, he said, "Oh yeah, we haven't turned that on yet and I'm not sure we're going to".

Re Costco: talked last week with a Costco manager (15 years on staff) and he told me that Costco is heading toward NFC but the software is the holdup. Agreed that EMV is off because it slows down checkout speed and fraud is manageable since each customer being verified via ID. He uses Samsung Pay so is into the tech personally.

What is most interesting is he said that the talk internally is that Costco may just implement NFC payments while never activating EMV in order to get the benefits of tokenized transactions (via NFC) while avoiding the slowdowns associated with EMV.
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The population of Canada is roughly 35-36 million which does even equal the state of California.
How many terminals you think Canada has to replace as opposed to US with over 300 mil people?
Yeah US is late to game, however a roll out in Canada ain't equivalent to a roll out in the US.

On a per capita basis, at the same rate, the penetration would be the same.

Fact is that the US is way behind. Europe has generally had EMV coverage for 10 years and started moving to contactless and NFC about 5 and 3 years ago respectively.

US was essentially the last first world nation to be moving off mag strip tech and has cocked up the transition with chip+sign instead of chip+pin, merchants blocking NFC in order to try and launch inferior payment apps, banks and CUs awkwardly and slowly rolling out EMV cards (my CU replaced our Visa credit cards last spring but the -IMHO- more vulnerable Visa Debit cards with EMV chips are AWOL. Neither card has been released for Apple Pay so we just use AMEX and Costco Visa), and now big oil extracting another 3 years to cover this at the pumps (how did Meijer manage to get BFC into all of their pumps so soon?)