Well Amanda is wrong - yes you can just use your contactless card, but only for payments up to £30 - with updated terminals I can make purchase up to any amount with my watch or phone. Its also more secure as not anyone can just tap the card on something if they find it and its one step closer to me being able to leave the house without a wallet! (Now if only Tesco would roll out contactless in all their stores)
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Early Apple Pay Reception Tepid Outside of United States
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Once the retailers and card networks get their act together, the ones that prefer to use the magnetic strips will be disappointed to learn that they won't be able to swipe before too long.
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If I get your card, and until it's cancelled, I can tap to my heart's delight too.
You'll have to do some admin work after the cancellation.
With ApplePay, nobody can get your card details without getting ahold of your card (or by scanning the card in your pocket). If this were to happen, and a new card is issued, ApplePay coordinates the change and remotely updates your card details in your Apple devices (even before your new card arrives in the mail for you to activate!)
Neither were light bulbs, telephones, motor cars or even credit cards.
I'm sorry you had such trouble adapting to such relatively simple tasks or the panoply of watch face options, but I realize that life's events are typified by a bell curve and not everybody adapts or is served well by new objects.
My grandmother 1897-1997+ had fear of touch tone vs rotary, and never adapted to digital microwave controls.
My mom 1933-?, could never program a VCR, but uses her Apple Watch constantly, ApplePay, navigation, setting timer w/ when cooking, taking calls when in room away from phone and adjusting her new gen hearing aids (this last one has been a bit of a disappointment because of the unreliability of Bluetooth but is better than her old gen aids were.)
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Yeah, as some people already noted this report sounds somewhat sensationalistic. As someone who works in China and has an ICBC debit card (added it to the Wallet back in February) I can tell you that the biggest problem is not Alipay/WeChat money, but rather acceptance and the lack of clear signage.
I don’t doubt that local Starbucks can accept it, because Apple and Starbucks is a match made in (hipster) heaven. But e.g. I go to this expensive supermarket called Sam’s Club (yeah, save your jokes, in China Sam’s Club is a luxurious supermarket for the rich) to stock on some imported essentials and at checkouts they have a bunch of card readers, some even with the Contactless logo, but Apple Pay logo is nowhere to be seen so I’m hesitant to try given that I don’t speak Chinese. But I think banks and users are slowly waking up to ApplePay (e.g. I’ve seen an ApplePay ad on ICBC ATM idle screen) so the retail will follow.
Then there is acceptance. In China a lot of shops and restaurants are small family-run groceries, fruit shops, noodle joints, dumpling places etc. And, quite naturally, they only accept cash or P2P payments using Alipay, i.e. they are not connected to a bank, and they never will be.
Finally I just cannot see how ApplePay can be “less seamless” than WeChat or Alipay. As I have mentioned, these are essentially P2P payment methods, I can pay you and you can pay me, we’re equal. So there comes this overhead where person who pays needs to tell the system to whom and how much. This involves scanning the QR code/selecting the person from your list and entering the amount and then confirming. Whereas in ApplePay the terminal tells you directly “You need to pay me XX. Agree?” and all you do is confirm. Technically that’s the point of having NFC plus the person manning the till.
I don’t doubt that local Starbucks can accept it, because Apple and Starbucks is a match made in (hipster) heaven. But e.g. I go to this expensive supermarket called Sam’s Club (yeah, save your jokes, in China Sam’s Club is a luxurious supermarket for the rich) to stock on some imported essentials and at checkouts they have a bunch of card readers, some even with the Contactless logo, but Apple Pay logo is nowhere to be seen so I’m hesitant to try given that I don’t speak Chinese. But I think banks and users are slowly waking up to ApplePay (e.g. I’ve seen an ApplePay ad on ICBC ATM idle screen) so the retail will follow.
Then there is acceptance. In China a lot of shops and restaurants are small family-run groceries, fruit shops, noodle joints, dumpling places etc. And, quite naturally, they only accept cash or P2P payments using Alipay, i.e. they are not connected to a bank, and they never will be.
Finally I just cannot see how ApplePay can be “less seamless” than WeChat or Alipay. As I have mentioned, these are essentially P2P payment methods, I can pay you and you can pay me, we’re equal. So there comes this overhead where person who pays needs to tell the system to whom and how much. This involves scanning the QR code/selecting the person from your list and entering the amount and then confirming. Whereas in ApplePay the terminal tells you directly “You need to pay me XX. Agree?” and all you do is confirm. Technically that’s the point of having NFC plus the person manning the till.
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My last AMEX card received 2015 started having chip problems earlier this year (just before my local gas station activated their new NFC POS units).
So I called AMEX to request a replacement. I specifically asked for a non RFC variant (I'm concerned about RF skimming when in my pocket); the Amex person told me they don't issue RF cards any more. IDK if this is true, but if it is and is trend, then conventional tap to pay may fade away.
The RF chip carries a cost to the issuer to fabricate, is not secure against pocket skimming, carries a cost to replace when comprimised, so I can see the financial incentives for card networks to support digital.
I can see a day, when card networks will issue a number and pin and no physical card; I'm sure they will push merchants to make this happen sooner than later as the benefits and big savings (from lowered costs of the card, the support, fraud, and reissue) accrue to the card networks.
Does Apple/my bank charge me to use it? I can't get a straight answer and that is a little off putting.
I can only really speak for Europe but most terminals have contactless or chip and pin. The ones that do support apple pay have been updated but there are many stores that just don't have any reason to update the till systems, so despite there being a contactless system apple pay isn't always an option and the spending limit means it's hard to use. I personally have used it a few times but often when i pay the terminal is handed to me and i have a split second to determine whether it is even compatible and then those that are self service can be contactless but don't have apple pay stickers or any way to determine if they accept apple pay. Selecting pay by card seeing a contactless sticker then waving your phone for 20 seconds makes you look A) mad and B) never want to try again.
No. We handle one of two ways, in stores where we normally shop, we use the phone to periodically check if the terminal is supporting ApplePay, if yes, then afterward we use watch. Sometimes for fun, we just try watch.
My mom learned Kohl's recently began accepting Apple Pay this way. She still regularly checks Kroger and Costco. (She was happy when her beautician got the new NFC updated Square terminal.)
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I think many stores are either ignorant that their terminals support ApplePay, or think "why advertise for Apple by hanging ApplePay signs.)
There may be a problem what is counted as "using Apple Pay". Most of the time you use a payment terminal that doesn't know about Apple Pay, but accepts your phone just as it accepts a contactless debit or credit card. It might be that this isn't counted as "Apple Pay".
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In the UK, I think people accept the "ApplePay" sign as "we accept contactless debit/credit cards".
But most cards issued in the USA are not c+p, but rather the less secure c+s. Another factor for moving off a card will be speed. Apple Pay is so much faster than a chip card (and more secure than an NFC card); this is not a major thing but will bring some more users.
Some terminals have a very weak NFC field but once you become accustomed to the local sweet spot it is hardly painful.
Try moving your watch around the terminal a bit to find the antennae.
Re "weird angle", just remember, the first folks that wore spectacles looked a bit odd too but now not only nobody gives it a second thought, but glasses are fashion items.
I have to agree, my family and I use Apple Pay everywhere and so do many of my friends. Contactless/Apple Pay is pretty ubiquitous now.
Canadian here, have apple pay since yesterday... Have been eating unhealthy while trying it out at Tim Horton's and McDonald's... My arteries can't wait for the novelty to wear off...
My understanding is Apple take a cut of the fee your bank/credit card already charge the retailer
That is funny - I have an iPhone 6s and never have a problem with the fingerprint reader. I think is ApplePay is great and is a heck of a lot faster than using a chip card in the US. Just wish more businesses would adopt it.
Yes that's sort of true, there is no explicit additional charge but the retailers include their business overheads like card charegs. when they set prices
Anybody paying today with a debit card is doing it wrong (due to security issues). POS terminals have been proven insecure (by a mountain of breaches). Even though you will likely get back all or most of whatever money is pulled from your bank account by a skimmer/ scanner/ scammer, why subject yourself to potential risk, loss or hassle?
Even if you don't go for ApplePay, do yourself and get a credit card. If you pay the balance each month you are much safer and get loyalty kickbacks rewards as well.
The £30 limit is for contactless debit/credit cards. And I think £100 a day or so. That's because if I steal your contactless debit card I can just use it.
Paying with iPhone runs into the £30 limit if the terminal doesn't recognise Apple Pay, and thinks your phone is a contactless card, so it uses the same rule. If the terminal _knew_ that you are using an iPhone, that wouldn't be necessary, because a thief cannot use your iPhone. You need upgraded terminals, and then the limit is gone. Many places have them, but not all.
The reason Apple Pay has a lukewarm reception outside the US is that Europe has had proximity pay credit cards for over a decade (i.e. same thing but you don't have to worry about your smart phone's battery being low). They're almost required in places like London for easy payments at the Tube (subway) without an Oyster card TRY and find a SINGLE such card in the U.S. We didn't even get chipped cards until last year and most places I've been too STILL don't support even that feature (despite threats from the Credit Card industry to charge the stores with any fraud charges unless they switch). Canada had chipped cards like 20 years ago. The days of the USA being state of the art or "leading" in anything but debt are long gone. The government is too dysfunctional to agree potholes suck even (which would explain why our roads look a lot like the surface of the moon) while I didn't see a single pothole when I was in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Belgium and France. They actually take care of their roads (although France seems to have a million toll booths between Paris and Le Havre).
Frankly, Apple "anything" is giving me pause these days. OS X is dog slow on non-SSD hard drives since Yosemite (I mean like 50%-300% slower depending on the operation) and I think it's on purpose to push hardware upgrades. It's also buggier than ever. No busy indicators for Spotlight or Photos (nerve wracking wondering if your program locked up or not since it gives no indication). When's the last time Apple put out a product that wasn't bugged to hell or made it harder or more of PITA to use (witness every version of iTunes since V10.x). The days of "It Just Works" died with Steve, I'm afraid. Apple seems to be about gouging us to death for inferior technology (not that Microsoft isn't trying with that Malware they wall Windows 10 that forces itself onto your Windows 7 or 8 machines). Apple was high priced in the days of Steve, but you tended to get some value for your dollar in features and reliability, particularly when Vista was a nightmare and Macbook Pros reached the height of state-of-the-art (everywhere but the GPU, of course. Apple hasn't had a decent GPU in decades).
If Apple wants to retain its cachet, it needs to work on polish, reliability and usability rather than change for change's sake. Nothing is worse than a slow, buggy POS.
Frankly, Apple "anything" is giving me pause these days. OS X is dog slow on non-SSD hard drives since Yosemite (I mean like 50%-300% slower depending on the operation) and I think it's on purpose to push hardware upgrades. It's also buggier than ever. No busy indicators for Spotlight or Photos (nerve wracking wondering if your program locked up or not since it gives no indication). When's the last time Apple put out a product that wasn't bugged to hell or made it harder or more of PITA to use (witness every version of iTunes since V10.x). The days of "It Just Works" died with Steve, I'm afraid. Apple seems to be about gouging us to death for inferior technology (not that Microsoft isn't trying with that Malware they wall Windows 10 that forces itself onto your Windows 7 or 8 machines). Apple was high priced in the days of Steve, but you tended to get some value for your dollar in features and reliability, particularly when Vista was a nightmare and Macbook Pros reached the height of state-of-the-art (everywhere but the GPU, of course. Apple hasn't had a decent GPU in decades).
If Apple wants to retain its cachet, it needs to work on polish, reliability and usability rather than change for change's sake. Nothing is worse than a slow, buggy POS.
That's just the overheads of running a business, you don't pay extra for using Apple Pay.
Either a faulty fingerprint reader or a faulty android fanboy. I use both second (iPhone 6s) and first (iPad Air) generation readers and both are super reliable.
And many say the same about iPhones and Apple Watches - just look at the number of fashion show events that Cook, Ive et al attend.