Checkout Problems Hindering Growth in Apple Pay Usage

[MacRumors]

Apple Pay growth is being stymied by issues people are experiencing at checkout, including cashiers unfamiliar with the service and problems getting payment terminals to work. According to a new study conducted by Phoenix Marketing International (via Bloomberg) in February, these ongoing problems are resulting in fewer repeat usage attempts and missed payment opportunities.

Two out of three iPhone buyers surveyed linked a credit card to their iPhones to enable Apple Pay, and 88 percent of those used the service once in the past four months. On average, Apple Pay users made 2.6 in-store transactions using the payments service during its first four months of availability.

Two-thirds of Apple Pay users claimed to have run into problems at checkout, making the Apple Pay experience less appealing. 48 percent of those who had problems said the merchant took too long completing the transaction, 42 percent said the cashier was unfamiliar with Apple Pay, and 36 percent said transactions were posted incorrectly or double counted.

The Apple Pay terminal simply did not work according to 27 percent of respondents who had issues, and 23 percent said it was inconvenient to choose a card in Passbook. In a separate section, 47 percent of those who had attempted to use Apple Pay ran into problems with the store not accepting Apple Pay even though it was one of Apple's partners.

"However, the early-on transaction potential is being undercut by low repeat usage and lost payment opportunities," said Greg Weed, Director of Card Research at Phoenix. "The demand is there: 59% of Apple Pay users have gone into a store and asked to make a purchase with Apple Pay. But so is the disappointment: 47% visited a store that was listed as an Apple Pay merchant only to find out that the specific store they visited did not accept (or were not ready to accept) Apple Pay."

For the study, Phoenix surveyed 3,002 respondents. Of those, 532 owned an iPhone 6, 350 linked a card to Apple Pay, and 302 used Apple Pay to make a purchase at least once during the last four months. With a small sample size, it is difficult to draw concrete conclusions about overall Apple Pay usage habits and customer experiences, but Phoenix's survey seems to be reflective of issues users have had with the service.

In our own experiences at MacRumors, we've had multiple occasions where an Apple Pay terminal simply failed to work, or took several tries to register a payment. We have also seen Apple Pay partner stores that were not equipped to accept Apple Pay payments, and we've run into employees who knew little about the service.

At other locations, we've been forced to sign for purchases, greatly cutting down on Apple Pay's ease of use, and at times, we've also been asked to show ID for a purchase, causing us to pull out a wallet anyway. We've seen several other reports of problems with Apple Pay on our own forums, and several journalists have gone hands-on with Apple Pay and seen issues first hand.

Apple Pay may still have hiccups to overcome, but the service has seen early success and will continue to improve with wider adoption. 72 hours after launch, Apple Pay had more than 1 million credit and debit activations, and from October through January, Apple Pay accounted for two of every three dollars spend through contactless payments on Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. As of March, Apple Pay is accepted at more than 700,000 locations in the United States, and merchant adoption continues to grow.

In January, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple Pay was "off to a very strong start" and that he expects 2015 to be "the year of Apple Pay."

Article Link: Checkout Problems Hindering Growth in Apple Pay Usage

 

[maflynn]

I've run into issues, so much so, I don't use it anymore.

Sometimes it was the iPhone, other times it was the cashier. Its still easier to whip out a credit card and being the path of least resistance, I'll keep using my credit cards.

 

[Zxxv]

UK wants apple pay

come on!

hurry up!!!!

 

[JonneyGee]

I'd say the big problem is places I shop don't accept Apple Pay yet. It's worked flawlessly when I've used it, but most stores I frequent don't take any wireless payments.

 

[k1121j]

most of my problems were the merchant not knowing anything about it

 

[Piggie]

UK wants apple pay

come on!

hurry up!!!!

Oh yes, let's change from one system, that everyone uses across the entire country and every member of the population can use quickly and simply, and have a few places that may or may not work with Apple pay.

The solution looking for a problem

 

[thewebb]

I try to use it whenever I can because I have had my credit card info stolen before and Apply Pay is much more secure than the old magnetic stripe. It works great when I use it.

 

[jonatron]

I think these issues are more related to contactless payments in general. I mean how is using apple pay any different to just holding your bank card in front of the terminal? Why does the cashier need to even know about Apple Pay apart from that they accept it?

Apple, just release Apple Pay in the UK. We are ready and contactless usage is going through the roof even without Apple Pay!

 

[dearfriendx]

I haven't had an issue with it yet and I've probably used it around 45-60 times.
Even when the cashier has no idea what it is, and the NFC terminal is there, I have no problem. They just end up confused/awed.

It's only the beginning and available on one generation of phones. Can't wait for it to expand, get on the watch, and for it to become a payment standard among 95% of places next year.

 

[Nicky G]

I think the biggest issue is the fact that MANY retailers have NFC-capable terminals at checkout, but have those functionalities turned off -- either because they were never enabled in the first place, or, blech, idiots who are supporting CurrentC and thus turned these functions off retroactively (Rite Aid, CVS, etc.)

Frankly I don't think the industry group that's behind NFC payments should allow retailers to prominently feature terminals with the tap-to-pay logo emblazoned on them, who have the function disabled. Way too confusing and frustrating to customers. I'm very savvy with this stuff (and a very happy Apple Pay user), but even I get bummed when I try to use it and it becomes clear that the terminal's NFC capabilities are turned off, despite having the logo.

 

[usarioclave]

The problems will get fixed once enough of the CEO's family members can't use pay to check out.

 

[Zxxv]

Oh yes, let's change from one system, that everyone uses across the entire country and every member of the population can use quickly and simply, and have a few places that may or may not work with Apple pay.

The solution looking for a problem

what are you talking about? the tills are set up already for this. We've had NFC for years. People already use their phones to pay with nfc and their cards. Apple are bringing a more elegant solution.

 

[jonatron]

Oh yes, let's change from one system, that everyone uses across the entire country and every member of the population can use quickly and simply, and have a few places that may or may not work with Apple pay.

The solution looking for a problem

This doesn't make any sense? Contactless payments are already widely used over the UK so there is no change apart from iPhone users will be able to hold their phone in front of the terminal instead of their card? Its just a software upgrade...

 

[Take Flight]

I've always still had to enter a pin or sign, so that aspect of it makes it sort of pointless.

 

[Mockenrue]

I get the slow terminals and unfamiliar cashiers. The one that jumps out at me is incorrect postings - by my math almost 25% of the total survey pool that used Apple Pay encountered that. It may take just one double-counted purchase for people to lose trust or interest.

 

[Philsy]

Oh yes, let's change from one system, that everyone uses across the entire country and every member of the population can use quickly and simply, and have a few places that may or may not work with Apple pay.

The solution looking for a problem

I can't see any benefit over a standard chip and pin card. Maybe it'll catch on in the U.S. where they still use old fashioned cards but I suspect not elsewhere.

 

[lewisd25]

Apple Pay implementation is so random. Using it at McDonald's is just as Apple has demonstrated, but using it at Wegman's is far less seamless: you have to select debit or credit, use Apple Pay via iPhone, then you have to sign your name on the terminal. Apple needs to push for a uniform process across all retailers.

 

[2457282]

I've run into issues, so much so, I don't use it anymore.

Sometimes it was the iPhone, other times it was the cashier. Its still easier to whip out a credit card and being the path of least resistance, I'll keep using my credit cards.

Well I love it and always try to use it as my first option. 80% of the time they dont accept it, even if they have the equipment. But its my way of spreading the word. Little by little more locations are accepting it and I am trying to get to the point where I dont carry a wallet. So don't give up.

 

[iSee]

I've had a 100% success rate with Apple Pay... but I only used it once .

 

[MJedi]

I recall that Toys R Us was a launch partner. When I used it at my local TRU in November, I still needed to sign. And it seemed the cashier wasn't properly trained. When I expressed my surprised at needing to sign, she said "Your kid might use your iPhone to buy something." She wasn't aware I still need to verify the transaction with my thumbprint.

On the other hand, having used it at Home Depot (self-checkout) and Disney Stores (where the cashier was so enthusiastic about it she said "I love Apple Pay!") I can't wait for NFC payments to be adopted at more places.

 

[Dbolander]

My “Checkout problem” is that many major retailers like Target prefer the theft of my personal data over actually accepting a secure payment system like Apple Pay.

 

[laurim]

I've had trouble using ApplePay in MN where I live where the transaction sat in "processing" or I got an "invalid card" message but used the actual card to finish. But I was in Chicago recently and used it a bunch of times in several cabs, McDonald's, Walgreens and it was awesome. I think it'll just take some time to iron things out.

 

[DudeDad]

I was asked to sign a receipt after using it once....why?

 

[73b]

I tried using it at a McDonald's, which was probably a bad idea but it's the only place near me that has. My phone said to hold the phone closer to the terminal, and it wouldn't work no matter how I positioned it. The cashier said "I aint never seen nobody use that" and didn't offer any help. So I will just be using cash there from now on.

 

[Nicky G]

Apple Pay implementation is so random. Using it at McDonald's is just as Apple has demonstrated, but using it at Wegman's is far less seamless: you have to select debit or credit, use Apple Pay via iPhone, then you have to sign your name on the terminal. Apple needs to push for a uniform process across all retailers.

Hah, good luck with THAT! How many times have you had to figure out on the fly whether it's the red or green button on the terminal that means "process as credit?" Notice how merchants tend to tape "hint stickers" to the front of their terminals for exactly this reason? It annoys me, but different manufacturers support similar functions in different ways. Apple Pay likely won't be any different, as all Apple Pay is handling is the NFC communication, totally analogous to the "swipe" action of a credit card user using a magstrip card. All the other aspects of the transaction are handled by the particular terminal and/or retailer.