Consumer Reports Says Apple Pay Cash is the Best P2P Mobile Payments Service

[JosephAW]

Some stores have astonishingly fast authentication with Apple Pay--1 or 2 second delay. Other stores, I stand there wondering if it's ever going to go through. And the clerks will say things like, "It might work. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't." I don't get why that is. Is it the stores' hardware, network connection, service, or my bank, Apple??? Love it when it works as it should.

Number 1 reason my friends won't turn on and use Apple Pay is feeling anxious about connecting something on their phone to their bank account. I figure there must be a lot of people like that.

Some of my friends fear connecting their phone to their bank account. I try to tell them it's more secure than swiping their card and helps protect against cc number theft.
The other problem is they don't use a password or iCloud or Touch ID or Face ID on their phone so their phone is easily accessible.

 

[Sasparilla]

Have to laugh at Zelle, the application / process created / supported by the big banks in the U.S. is at the bottom - its a bit crazy its customer support got a good rating. If you troll through the comments of the app it appears much of the support is worthless (the support is offshore along with the development). Seems its better to use it through your banking app (if you use one of the big banks, its integrated into their app and much better supported).

Opportunity missed Apple hasn't done an iPod and put iMessage, ApplePay and Apple Watch on Android - they'd own the market and not force me to use one of these non privacy respecting alternatives to reach across platforms.

 

[Noblesongster]

This article should have also included a metric and associated column for cost. Apple Pay cash charges a 3% fee from an outside source. Zelle and Venmo (that I use) don't do that. I have customers that have paid me for my services but I stopped suggesting to use Apple Pay Cash just for that reason.

 

[oneMadRssn]

This article is about Apple Pay Cash (Peer2Peer Payment)...
Apple Pay Cash is using a virtual account, thus requires online access, also to send a payment to a recipient, but Apple Pay non-cash works like passing on credit card details via NFC...

I know, but the guy I was replying to was not talking about "Cash."
[doublepost=1533651716][/doublepost]The thing that drives peer to peer payment systems is social adoption. It doesn't matter if Apple Pay Cash is the highest rated by consumer reports and the most secure. If none of my friends use it, I won't use it either. So none of that stuff matters for peer to peer systems. So far, I haven't seen anything in Apple Pay Cash that could possible unseat Venmo's dominance on small friend to friend payments such as splitting restaurant bills or getting event tickets.

Personally, I prefer Square Cash because it skips the whole virtual wallet thing and just goes straight to your linked checking account. I hate the whole intermediate wallet that Venmo and Apple Pay Cash and everyone else has. Every time I plan a big ski trip with all my friends, I list Square Cash as my first choice for how I would like to be paid. So far, 0 people have used it. I'd say 75% pay me with Venmo, and 25% pay me with PayPal.

 

[ggibson913]

Still use Venmo. It's cross platform so I can get money to Android users as well. Plus it was hard enough convincing my family to use Venmo instead of sending me a check for the cell service every month.

 

[69Mustang]

And Samsung gave up security like a sophomore at Prom when they allowed Samsung Pay to work on old payment machines via the credit card slot. Clever idea, but less secure than a dedicated NFC connection. Apple often forgoes cleaver/flashy features in favor of security. They are incredibly disciplined for such a large company.

I'm not sure you know what you're talking about here. Your assessment of MST is faulty. Samsung pay uses NFC where accepted and MST on terminals that don't accept NFC - a very large percentage in the US. MST doesn't give up security. It uses tokenization as well. What Samsung doesn't have is a viable peer to peer solution. That's a valid criticism. Not what you wrote.

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

If you go look at CR articles about Apple products, you'll find them mostly positive. They just don't get reported on. Out of all the Apple products tested by CR over the years, how many do you think were negatively rated? Of those negatively rated, was there ever one that didn't have a legitimate issue?

Cannot agree more, 69Mustang -- on all counts.

Consumer Reports (CR) does formal engineered testing, without support from ad revenue, and supported only by subscribers.

Some in here, pooh-pooh CR immediately and, unknowingly, typically berate their reports with "Who tracks CR anymore? Are they even relevant in this century? Only my grandfather reads CR anymore..." And so on.

If there is a fault with CR, in my opinion, is that they do not long-term testing to validate their initial findings, and rely on their subscribers to survey and rate statistically their experiences with products.

 

[Böhme417]

​

This article should have also included a metric and associated column for cost. Apple Pay cash charges a 3% fee from an outside source. Zelle and Venmo (that I use) don't do that. I have customers that have paid me for my services but I stopped suggesting to use Apple Pay Cash just for that reason.

Apple Pay Cash charges a 3% fee to use a credit card instead of a debit card. There is no fee to use a debit card. Venmo does the same. And Zelle comes directly from your bank account.

 

[Hazmat401]

And Samsung gave up security like a sophomore at Prom when they allowed Samsung Pay to work on old payment machines via the credit card slot. Clever idea, but less secure than a dedicated NFC connection. Apple often forgoes cleaver/flashy features in favor of security. They are incredibly disciplined for such a large company.

I highly disagree... Mst is no less secure than anyother NFC transaction... I at least I can use Samsung pay.... ANYWHERE! You are still limited with apple pay. Its the only reason I might favor the Note 9 over the new iPhones

 

[trip1ex]

This article should have also included a metric and associated column for cost. Apple Pay cash charges a 3% fee from an outside source. Zelle and Venmo (that I use) don't do that. I have customers that have paid me for my services but I stopped suggesting to use Apple Pay Cash just for that reason.

Yep although someone is getting charged a fee no matter what if you use a cc on any service. And so you could just give a 3% discount if a customer uses Apple Pay Cash with a CC since you won’t be charged the 3%.

 

[MacDawg]

I really like Apple Pay, but I have never had occasion to use Apple Pay Cash
I like the idea of it, but it is just not something I do

 

[Kabeyun]

"highest-rated mobile peer-to-peer payments service on the american market"

The one im using is free, works on android and ios, and is almost instant on my bank account. Basicly everyone and Grandma uses it in my country.

That’s fine. Don’t know who you’re trusting with your banking information, but I hope it’s safe, secure, and privacy-protected. That’s critical, and why Apple’s won top marks. I assume people care about those things regardless of their location.

 

[eroslws]

How is broad access not weighed almost exclusively? This is an awful comparison. What good is a great payment service when no one uses it? Venmo is a verb nowadays.

 

[Kabeyun]

If there is a fault with CR, in my opinion, is that they do not long-term testing to validate their initial findings, and rely on their subscribers to survey and rate statistically their experiences with products.

Another problem in my opinion is that they overweight cost in making recommendations. Nothing wrong with value, but it’s not the same as quality or overall owner experience. This does tie in to what you said: cheap things may seem equivalent initially, only to fail after longer term use.

 

[bstpierre]

Another problem in my opinion is that they overweight cost in making recommendations. Nothing wrong with value, but it’s not the same as quality or overall owner experience. This does tie in to what you said: cheap things may seem equivalent initially, only to fail after longer term use.

That is why it is important to consider their second place recommendation. It is as good or better than the first place recommendation but costs more.

 

[tmiw]

I'm not sure you know what you're talking about here. Your assessment of MST is faulty. Samsung pay uses NFC where accepted and MST on terminals that don't accept NFC - a very large percentage in the US. MST doesn't give up security. It uses tokenization as well. What Samsung doesn't have is a viable peer to peer solution. That's a valid criticism. Not what you wrote.

I highly disagree... Mst is no less secure than anyother NFC transaction... I at least I can use Samsung pay.... ANYWHERE! You are still limited with apple pay. Its the only reason I might favor the Note 9 over the new iPhones

I'm currently using a Gear S3 and it's definitely not as good of an experience as Apple Pay, despite being usable "everywhere". For one thing, "everywhere" is in quotes because that hasn't been the case for me; I've had failures nearly every time I've attempted to use it with smaller terminals (such as the Ingenico iPP series or Verifone VX820) as they'd get confused seeing both NFC and MST being read. And I'm not even getting into the many places that have terminals that aren't customer accessible, which no mobile wallet will help with.

Additionally, there are extra steps involved in getting the payment process started with Samsung Pay. Unlike with the Apple Watch where you can just double-tap the side button and hover it over the terminal, you have to tap the Pay button on the card you want to use. I get that this is probably needed because of MST, but still, I'd be okay with an option in the settings for Apple Watch like behavior with the understanding that you'd only be able to use NFC (at least without the extra interaction).

 

[BlandUsername]

I wish they roll out Apple Pay at the gas pumps. I don't trust the swipe at the pump so I have to go in to pay. Several friend's cards have been nabbed by pump skimmers.

Exxon/Mobil app Uses apple pay at the pump.

 

[44267547]

You don’t even need an Apple Watch LTE to use Apple Pay

Right, I was commenting on the fact that I don’t even _need_ my iPhone with LTE (Being its a new feature this last year) and I can use Apple Pay anywhere. I was compounding both features I specifically use and appreciate.

 

[CPx]

I wonder why PayPal wasn’t included?

 

[1NYer]

Cash App > Apple Pay (P2P) service hands down. Cash app is straight to the point. Venmo has too much nonsensical BS, I don’t care to know that Anne sent Alex money for the movies. Apple Pay (P2P) is one sided. Don’t trust Facebook. Never used the Zelle standalone app but Zella is tied into my banks apps so transferring is easy.

 

[dontwalkhand]

I wish they roll out Apple Pay at the gas pumps. I don't trust the swipe at the pump so I have to go in to pay. Several friend's cards have been nabbed by pump skimmers.

Plenty of pumps around Arizona have Apple Pay now.

 

[sidewinder3000]

I highly disagree... Mst is no less secure than anyother NFC transaction... I at least I can use Samsung pay.... ANYWHERE! You are still limited with apple pay. Its the only reason I might favor the Note 9 over the new iPhones

You are free to disagree but may I ask what exactly you are disagreeing with? Security experts seem to favor the more secure connection that Apple Pay uses. I’m not an expert in this field but logic would seem to suggest that hijacking a system for something other than its intended purpose (the credit card slot) might result in a cimmection that’s less secure than one designed from the start to be a secure connection.

 

[19callum93]

Can’t wait for this to be in the U.K.

 

[sidewinder3000]

I'm not sure you know what you're talking about here. Your assessment of MST is faulty. Samsung pay uses NFC where accepted and MST on terminals that don't accept NFC - a very large percentage in the US. MST doesn't give up security. It uses tokenization as well. What Samsung doesn't have is a viable peer to peer solution. That's a valid criticism. Not what you wrote.

That sounds like a good technical argument that I can’t counter! I just know that I’ve read in multiple places that the wireless/radio connection to the card slots is less stable, has less range and is less secure than NFC. Tokenization being separate issue.

I read this in a Mashable article, and I’ve read a handful of other articles that have said similar things. I don’t know the science and engineering well enough to draw my own conclusions, so I rely on what I read and hope that it’s not hype or spin...

“Tod Beardsley, engineering manager at security firm Rapid7, told Mashable that Samsung's use of "extremely legacy technology" is not a good thing. We should be moving away from this technology, not repurposing it.

"Don't get me wrong, I love old tech," Beardsley said. "Most hackers do. But pretty much anything that extends the practical usage life of magstripes is going to be hugely suspect."

 

[ignatius345]

I wonder why PayPal wasn’t included?

Venmo is owned by PayPal, so basically it's PayPal's P2P payment system.
[doublepost=1533663563][/doublepost]

How is broad access not weighed almost exclusively? This is an awful comparison. What good is a great payment service when no one uses it? Venmo is a verb nowadays.

I think it's still good to see a comparison, but yeah, your larger point makes sense. If I'm splitting a cab with someone and offer to "Apple Pay" them I'm probably gonna get a weird look. Everyone I know has Venmo and you don't have to guess what kind of phone they have to know whether it'll work for them. If they ever somehow make it accessible on Android, it has a lot of potential to take off -- particularly with a gargantuan company like Apple behind it.

I will say, Apple has finally started putting a lot more marketing into Apple Pay so I could see it gaining traction, especially since it's so simple to use in iMessage.