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Survey: Only 6% of U.S. iPhone Users Who Set Up Apple Pay Actually Use It

Almost nowhere I shop accepts Apple Pay. The one store that does I use it all the time now that Face ID works with a mask. But for the previous two years when mask restrictions were in place it was just easier to grab my card. And even with Face ID working I find it only marginally more convenient than my card.
 
MisterSavage said:
It just boggles my mind that people will try and argue Apple Pay isn't more convenient than paying with a physical card. Two taps and I've paid in seconds without getting anything out of my pockets. I was so happy when my favorite grocery store starting accepting it because I'd never have to pull out my wallet there again.
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The difference in time is nothing compared to the time people spend arguing either side.
 
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After spending a week on vacation and watching people pay for things constantly, I have 1 question and 1 remark.

Q: If you're able to just hold your watch or iPhone next to the PIN pad to pay with a tap, how do you change the default payment card? I have 3 credit cards and a debit card in my iPhone wallet. Maybe the Wallet app just needs more work to be more clear.

Comment: Certain PIN pads are very slow to activate after the cashier pushes total to when the green light turns on. It's very easy to just plop my credit card on the terminal and leave it there until it beeps, not so easy with your phone or watch falling asleep while the terminal is waiting to activate.
 
macsound1 said:
After spending a week on vacation and watching people pay for things constantly, I have 1 question and 1 remark.

Q: If you're able to just hold your watch or iPhone next to the PIN pad to pay with a tap, how do you change the default payment card? I have 3 credit cards and a debit card in my iPhone wallet. Maybe the Wallet app just needs more work to be more clear.

Comment: Certain PIN pads are very slow to activate after the cashier pushes total to when the green light turns on. It's very easy to just plop my credit card on the terminal and leave it there until it beeps, not so easy with your phone or watch falling asleep while the terminal is waiting to activate.
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On my watch I double tap the button to bring up my wallet. I swipe to the card I want and hold it near the reader.
 
macsound1 said:
After spending a week on vacation and watching people pay for things constantly, I have 1 question and 1 remark.

Q: If you're able to just hold your watch or iPhone next to the PIN pad to pay with a tap, how do you change the default payment card? I have 3 credit cards and a debit card in my iPhone wallet. Maybe the Wallet app just needs more work to be more clear.

Comment: Certain PIN pads are very slow to activate after the cashier pushes total to when the green light turns on. It's very easy to just plop my credit card on the terminal and leave it there until it beeps, not so easy with your phone or watch falling asleep while the terminal is waiting to activate.
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Apple Pay takes a fraction of a second to activate, don’t do it until the terminal is ready maybe?

I’m beginning to understand why America is so far behind the rest of the developed world in this sort of thing. People resist change and that’s fine as it doesn’t really affect those countries where people enjoy the convenience of fast digital payments. It’s just ironic that Apple Pay is produced by an American company, but more popular everywhere else.
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
I’m beginning to understand why America is so far behind the rest of the developed world in this sort of thing. People resist change and that’s fine as it doesn’t really affect those countries where people enjoy the convenience of fast digital payments. It’s just ironic that Apple Pay is produced by an American company, but more popular everywhere else.
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It's frustrating for those of us that want to fully embrace it everywhere! :D
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
Apple Pay takes a fraction of a second to activate, don’t do it until the terminal is ready maybe?

I’m beginning to understand why America is so far behind the rest of the developed world in this sort of thing. People resist change and that’s fine as it doesn’t really affect those countries where people enjoy the convenience of fast digital payments. It’s just ironic that Apple Pay is produced by an American company, but more popular everywhere else.
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I think the problem is more that Apple tried to short circuit the natural evolution of payments. Note that tapping a physical card is actually becoming more of a thing in the US, especially the last 1-2 years (now at ~20% of transactions now if you believe Visa). Meanwhile, people had been tapping for a while elsewhere before Apple Pay became a thing, so that habit was already there.
 
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beerseagulls said:
I got the Apple Card more than a year ago. Only used the Apple Card and Apple Pay around 5 times since then....

Am I the only one who's too lazy to pull the phone out to pay for stuff? (or too paranoid to take the phone out everywhere, especially when I have dozens of items in my hand waiting to check out)
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then how do you pay? you still have to get the card out??
 
827538 said:
I've actually seen more extreme differences in traveling across the UK. I've had UK money refused (Scottish tender in England), in parts of the UK you have different native languages like Wales and the Scottish islands, different laws, different education systems. While for an American (my wife is Texan and grew up on a working ranch) there's a lot of difference, I don't see as much. The geography is a lot more different, the culture less so outside of very narrow areas. The UK actually feels like separate countries which is because it kind of is.

I spend most of my time in the US and Texas, Florida, and Idaho and never had much of an issue. Outside of the climate and licence plates there's very little difference between states. The US banking system is 20 years behind the UK, that does irritate me somewhat. I don't know how to write a cheque and magnetic strips are never used in the UK for example. I also have no idea how to use a fax machine.
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I haven't used a fax in 10 years! only email.
 
tmiw said:
I think the problem is more that Apple tried to short circuit the natural evolution of payments.
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Apple didn’t try to short circuit it, though. The payments industry had already defined what the next steps were going to be, Apple just worked on their solutions such that they were available soon after all the approvals were in place. All the stuff Apple Pay depends on had been defined years earlier by other people as the “natural evolution of payments”.
 
kingtj1971 said:
I have to admit that I only really use Apple Pay for my online transactions on the phone itself. EG. I'll reload my Starbucks virtual card via Apple Pay while in their app.

I always have my wallet full of credit/debit cards when I'm out anyplace, because it has things like my drivers' license in it too. And like people are saying, Apple Pay doesn't really seem any easier than inserting a chip type credit card and pressing the green button for "credit"? Not when Face ID messes up with a mask on and then you're stuck typing your whole unlock PIN for the phone.
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I just pull down my mask for a second or 2.
 
Unregistered 4U said:
Apple didn’t try to short circuit it, though. The payments industry had already defined what the next steps were going to be, Apple just worked on their solutions such that they were available soon after all the approvals were in place. All the stuff Apple Pay depends on had been defined years earlier by other people as the “natural evolution of payments”.
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Technology wise, sure. I was referring more to Americans needing to transition to inserting cards, then to tapping physical cards, and THEN to tapping mobile devices vs. trying to go from swipe directly to mobile devices. The latter might very well have been too big of a jump, especially considering that people are just now tapping physical cards en masse here.

(Plus all the other issues that were discussed before. For example, merchants not liking Visa and MC all that much and thus only doing the bare minimum. Or contactless actually being a massive IT/software development effort at many retailers because of how they architected their POS systems.)
 
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tmiw said:
Technology wise, sure. I was referring more to Americans needing to transition to inserting cards, then to tapping physical cards, and THEN to tapping mobile devices vs. trying to go from swipe directly to mobile devices. The latter might very well have been too big of a jump, especially considering that people are just now tapping physical cards en masse here.

(Plus all the other issues that were discussed before. For example, merchants not liking Visa and MC all that much and thus only doing the bare minimum. Or contactless actually being a massive IT/software development effort at many retailers because of how they architected their POS systems.)
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Ah, thanks, completely agree. I always find it interesting how good things in one area leads to an unintended outcome in other areas. For example, a country with a broad deployment of telecommunications cables making instant communication (to verify charges) easy, and as a result, skipping the whole chip and pin and relying on that whole “signature” process.
 
tmiw said:
I think the problem is more that Apple tried to short circuit the natural evolution of payments. Note that tapping a physical card is actually becoming more of a thing in the US, especially the last 1-2 years (now at ~20% of transactions now if you believe Visa). Meanwhile, people had been tapping for a while elsewhere before Apple Pay became a thing, so that habit was already there.
Click to expand...

You may be right then about the habits. We have been tapping for payments since 2007 so when Apple Pay came here in 2015, it was a similar concept, especially as everywhere with contactless accepts it too. I think I said in this thread before, I was shocked 20 years ago when I was in the States and nowhere accepted chip and pin! I was still signing for payments while the cashier checked the signature on the back of my card!

I suppose my main annoyance when reading here is the amount of people who dismiss Apple Pay as an inconvenience when it’s about as fast and convenient as it gets once you are used to it being an option or have an Apple Watch.
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
I suppose my main annoyance when reading here is the amount of people who dismiss Apple Pay as an inconvenience when it’s about as fast and convenient as it gets once you are used to it being an option or have an Apple Watch.
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I'm not surprised given that there's never really been a contactless limit nor any authentication required (other than maybe signature) when tapping physical cards. Even Touch or Face ID could be argued as being less convenient in that environment.

I will give Apple credit for making people think contactless was a viable option, though. Given that it failed once before, I think everyone was fully prepared to just never bother with it again prior to Apple Pay's release. I wouldn't be surprised if we had just gone QR or something (e.g. like China) without Apple's involvement.
 
I live in the UK and never use cash. I walk into a store and tap my debit or credit card, and I can pay for items worth up to £100 in a single transaction. Furthermore, even if my card is stolen and they make fraudulent transactions, the bank will automatically refund me with no questions. I'm pretty new to Apple Pay, but you can be sure I'll be using it more often as then I won't even need a wallet in my pocket for my cards.
 
Cromulent said:
I live in the UK and never use cash. I walk into a store and tap my debit or credit card, and I can pay for items worth up to £100 in a single transaction. Furthermore, even if my card is stolen and they make fraudulent transactions, the bank will automatically refund me with no questions. I'm pretty new to Apple Pay, but you can be sure I'll be using it more often as then I won't even need a wallet in my pocket for my cards.
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Why do you say "up to £100"? If dinner or an item is over that much, you have to make 2 or more transactions?
 
macsound1 said:
Why do you say "up to £100"? If dinner or an item is over that much, you have to make 2 or more transactions?
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No. You just need to type your PIN number to complete the transaction rather than using contactless which does not require authentication.

Contactless = No authentication needed on transactions up to £100
Over £100 = PIN number required
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
Apple Pay takes a fraction of a second to activate, don’t do it until the terminal is ready maybe?
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Right - that's the frustration. Every terminal takes a different amount of time to activate, some say hold for 3 seconds, and if you do it wrong, the process to reset the terminal and start again can sometimes be 30 seconds.
Not to mention self checkout where you have to bag your own items while someone is breathing down your neck.

So inserting the chip means my hands are free to do whatever I need to and ignore the screen until it chimes at me to remove it.
 
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