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Honestly, thinking about checks is instructive as to why AP is not as prominent as one might expect. There is a massive convivence gulf between writing a check and any type of credit card payment (swipe, chip, or tap). With plastic, you quickly interact with a terminal. Writing a check means retrieving a checkbook and a pen, filling in the details, waiting for the final cost, filling that in, and then having the check scanned by a clerk.

The difference between tapping a card and tapping a phone is quite small. It took years and years for checks to become uncommon payment methods in stores, despite the large benefits of plastic. It will take far longer for phone/watch payments to really become the standard.

FWIW, I do still write checks under certain circumstances. Just yesterday I paid a contractor with a check, as using a card came with a 3% processing fee. That's a couple hundred dollars. Looking at my checkbook, it seems I write one or two per year.
Have to say, from my UK perspectve, if I want to pay someone I can do that straight from my account to theirs. I can understand avoiding a processing fee. But for me, transfers are without charge.
 
FWIW, I do still write checks under certain circumstances. Just yesterday I paid a contractor with a check, as using a card came with a 3% processing fee. That's a couple hundred dollars. Looking at my checkbook, it seems I write one or two per year.
That's what bank transfers are for
 
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That's what bank transfers are for
Checks are bank transfers. When I get one, I scan it directly to my account via my phone camera and bank app, and my account is credited immediately. Basically all anyone does with checks now, read the account info on it and the amount and do a direct transfer. I think the security of doing this sucks but nobody seems to care. I'm supposed to keep the deposited check for a while in case there are issues so I guess there are ways to fix problems.
 
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My assumption is lack of training on their own Point of Sale system.
So this has actually happened to me more than once, but I bring up my phone or watch, and they will say the same thing "we dont take Apple Pay". And I try to have the argument, "but it shows tap to pay". And they will say go ahead and try.....and then it fails. And they tell me "told you so" LOL. Someone else on this forum said that its more than likely a software bug on the particular terminal (which I guess makes sense). But I previously thought (and so did other people on other forums) that the particular terminal had Apple Pay blocked (or mobile payments for that matter).
 
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Checks are bank transfers. When I get one, I scan it directly to my account via my phone camera and bank app, and my account is credited immediately. Basically all anyone does with checks now, read the account info on it and the amount and do a direct transfer. I think the security of doing this sucks but nobody seems to care. I'm supposed to keep the deposited check for a while in case there are issues so I guess there are ways to fix problems.
Yep, very inefficient unsecure way of doing them, indeed..
 
Have to say, from my UK perspectve, if I want to pay someone I can do that straight from my account to theirs. I can understand avoiding a processing fee. But for me, transfers are without charge.
Sure, that's what I'd normally do too. But when you don't have their bank info, and they are standing right there, handing them a check can be the easiest (assuming you have and can locate a checkbook). If I didn't have a checkbook, then it would be having my bank send a check to their address.

All that aside, the point really was that as bad as checks are, it took a long time for them to mostly fade away. The difference between a card and a phone is not nearly so great.
 
The US is just so far behind many other countries when it comes to payment systems.

So many places still don’t accept contactless payments like Apple Pay. Cheques/checks are still being used for payments. There is no standard, universal and free payment system for bank-to-bank transfers. The whole payments system needs a major overhaul to modernise.
 
I don't see any advantage in payments by phone. I don't save any time as it takes me the same time to take my credit card and hold it against the terminal than it would to take out my iPhone. But the card is easier to handle and doesn't break if falling. Dialing in my pin code is only necessary every 25 payments or so.

The problem of mobile payment is that there is no competition. I can get credit cards everywhere, but if Apple or Google kicks you out, you can't pay. So it is better not to support them.

It would be a different thing if Apple would open his nfc for banks so they can use their own apps. It's much better for the customers.
 
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The US is just so far behind many other countries when it comes to payment systems.

So many places still don’t accept contactless payments like Apple Pay. Cheques/checks are still being used for payments. There is no standard, universal and free payment system for bank-to-bank transfers. The whole payments system needs a major overhaul to modernise.
The ACH system is the standard, universal and free system for bank-to-bank transfers in the US. It works great, how most people get their pay, social security, tax refund, stimulus checks and other direct deposits to their account. Also general way to pay bills if the banks offer the service. It works so well that people don't generally even notice it. The problem is getting access to it requires working with a bank - accounts, credits cards, Apple Pay, and that is not consistent. The US is behind because of a general lack of central authority telling people how to do things, it is more based on persuasion and marketing than just saying do it. Why US still doesn't use SI units and still has small value bills instead of coins.
 
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The ACH system is the standard, universal and free system for bank-to-bank transfers in the US. It works great, how most people get their pay, social security, tax refund, stimulus checks and other direct deposits to their account. Also general way to pay bills if the banks offer the service. It works so well that people don't generally even notice it. The problem is getting access to it requires working with a bank - accounts, credits cards, Apple Pay, and that is not consistent. The US is behind because of a general lack of central authority telling people how to do things, it is more based on persuasion and marketing than just saying do it. Why US still doesn't use SI units and still has small value bills instead of coins.
I’m with Chase. I would like to transfer $500 to someone. My options are Zelle (requires supporting bank on other side), Wire Transfer (fee payable) or Check (ridiculous). There is no free ACH option available. So you are wrong, ACH is not universal.
 
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I’m with Chase. I would like to transfer $500 to someone. My options are Zelle (requires supporting bank on other side), Wire Transfer (fee payable) or Check (ridiculous). There is no free ACH option available. So you are wrong, ACH is not universal.
It is free with my bank and I can make payments to anyone I have account info for or get money from anyone I want to give my info to. The problem with ACH is you need to go through a bank to use it. How banks charge their customers for access is a bank's decision. ACH is universal from a bank to bank perspective. How banks treat their customers varies.
 
It is free with my bank and I can make payments to anyone I have account info for or get money from anyone I want to give my info to. The problem with ACH is you need to go through a bank to use it. How banks charge their customers for access is a bank's decision. ACH is universal from a bank to bank perspective. How banks treat their customers varies.
Unfortunately that’s still wrong. It is not universal because not all banks offer ACH transfers as a payment option. I’m not talking about whether a fee is required or not.. it is simply not available for use.

You are then only left with alternative systems which either requires a fee to use or limited because of lack of support by other banks.
 
Nowhere near as low as the pathetically small sample size. 3.5k respondents, no wonder it doesn‘t feel representative of the real world.
Statistically, that's a pretty good sample size. A larger sample size would reduce the margin of error but that's about it. You would still get a result of around 6%.
 
I don't see any advantage in payments by phone. I don't save any time as it takes me the same time to take my credit card and hold it against the terminal than it would to take out my iPhone. But the card is easier to handle and doesn't break if falling. Dialing in my pin code is only necessary every 25 payments or so.

The problem of mobile payment is that there is no competition. I can get credit cards everywhere, but if Apple or Google kicks you out, you can't pay. So it is better not to support them.

It would be a different thing if Apple would open his nfc for banks so they can use their own apps. It's much better for the customers.
They don't know your Credit Card Number when you use the phone to pay. Is that important to you?
 
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For goodness sake. I read that whole article and then find only 3,671 Americans were surveyed? Ask the banks about the percentages.

I actually think the real problem was that America wasn't ready for it. Early users would have been knocked back at so many locations that many of them would have given up.

When the first major bank issued compatible cards in Australia you could instantly use ApplePay at every retailer. I reckon our usage percentage over here is probably pretty high.
 
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For goodness sake. I read that whole article and then find only 3,671 Americans were surveyed? Ask the banks about the percentages.

I actually think the real problem was that America wasn't ready for it. Early users would have been knocked back at so many locations that many of them would have given up.

When the first major bank issued compatible cards in Australia you could instantly use ApplePay at every retailer. I reckon our usage percentage over here is probably pretty high.

Honestly, the US would likely have never gotten contactless payment at all had Apple not released Apple Pay when it did. After all, it already has significant baggage here from previous failed rollouts, so the banks were perfectly okay just focusing on EMV and never bothering with contactless cards before now (never mind the retailers who would likely have purchased US-specific terminals without NFC hardware in the first place). Hell, a fair number of smaller stores and restaurants already are using US specific hardware without built-in NFC such as this POS system; NFC requires a different receipt printer to be purchased.
 
The ACH system is the standard, universal and free system for bank-to-bank transfers in the US. It works great, how most people get their pay, social security, tax refund, stimulus checks and other direct deposits to their account. Also general way to pay bills if the banks offer the service. It works so well that people don't generally even notice it. The problem is getting access to it requires working with a bank - accounts, credits cards, Apple Pay, and that is not consistent. The US is behind because of a general lack of central authority telling people how to do things, it is more based on persuasion and marketing than just saying do it. Why US still doesn't use SI units and still has small value bills instead of coins.
So, I would agree that ACH certainly has advantages (especially for receiving pay and other income), but there are some drawbacks for bill paying with a bank account via ACH agreement. These arise not from the ACH system directly, but from the agreements with the merchant who is billing you: the legal agreements are lengthy and dense, but somewhere in there is often a stipulation that they can reach into your account to "correct" mistakes (their definition) or charge late payment or other fees (as defined by them), or collect disputed amounts (again, as defined by them). So whereas a traditional dispute might involve a merchant sending you a bill and trying to get you to pay, with ACH they will just take what they want and it's up to you to try and get it back (if they are wrong). This also become problematic when you cancel a service but they keep billing you. Again, they have your money and it is your problem to try and get it back. This is where old-fashioned bill payment (receive invoice, send check) has an advantage - more control by the consumer over the funds in their bank account. An ACH agreement puts the leverage in the hands of the merchant. It works great...until you have a problem.
 
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I can assure you that our 4G coverage is far from 100%! At least in some parts of the UK.

Where I live, an eyeball check on coverage suggests maybe 50% of land area. My home is good but not far down the road, it disappears. 3G, on the same basis, seems to be about 80/85%. That uncovered area includes a signficant number of dwellings, places of work, and main roads.

My phone quite often switches to BT Wifi because of lack of 3G/4G. But that is not often of much use - e.g. while driving the dwell time in the zone of a single BT Wifi point is very short.

5G? What is 5G? :)
I’m referring to population coverage, not geographical coverage. I live in York, where it’s fine. Out in the North Yorkshire countryside, it’s rubbish. But there aren’t many ice cream stands out there either.
 
I’m referring to population coverage, not geographical coverage. I live in York, where it’s fine. Out in the North Yorkshire countryside, it’s rubbish. But there aren’t many ice cream stands out there either.
Did you miss this bit:

That uncovered area includes a significant number of dwellings, places of work, and main roads.

It is difficult to get a population coverage figure, but there are busy places, including ice cream vendors, out of all coverage on all networks. And many more which are out of 4G coverage.
 
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I rarely use it for store purchases anymore. For one, there's the whole mask-wearing thing. Second, both my debit and credit card became NFC "tap" enabled within the past couple of years so that makes them very convenient to use, just as convenient, if not more so than Apple Pay. And third, many places I regularly visit don't support it (in fact, a few places I know don't even support the NFC card payments).



This is the primary reason for me. Just tapping a card is easier. It's not that Apple Pay isn't good, but when all I have to do is tap a piece of plastic, no authentication, no double-pressing a button and making sure I select the proper card, what do you think I'm going to choose?
It's so reliable here I haven't carried a card for over a year.
 
I’m referring to population coverage, not geographical coverage. I live in York, where it’s fine. Out in the North Yorkshire countryside, it’s rubbish. But there aren’t many ice cream stands out there either.

Did you miss this bit:

That uncovered area includes a significant number of dwellings, places of work, and main roads.

It is difficult to get a population coverage figure, but there are busy places, including ice cream vendors, out of all coverage on all networks. And many more which are out of 4G coverage.

Let’s no forget, the coverage also depends on the network you’re with. I’m with EE & I’ve had stellar 4G coverage across the country from Cornwall to John o groats over the years.
 
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