Tim Cook Says Pandemic Boosting Contactless Payment Adoption in United States

[Brenster]

Here in UK it is jarring when a store doesn’t take Apple Pay, Google Pay or any other contactless payment. Every major supermarket & chain strongly encourages contactless payments during the pandemic in preference to cash or card/chip & pin payments.

The Costa Coffee (huge chain here) outlet in the main entrance of the hospital where I work have and are only taking contactless payments. Other than collecting my coffee and bacon roll at the end of the counter, I didn’t touch anything throughout the queuing and payment process at all.

Even the local chippy (& best in town!) now have contactless terminals for payments, having been a cash only operation for 20+ years.

It’s not until I read articles such as these that I’m shaken from believing unthinkingly that Apple Pay & like systems are not ubiquitous globally.

 

[Piggie]

The design for iPhone 12/Pro was locked in before Covid hit so it’s blindly pessimistic to think it was laziness that kept Apple from incorporating Touch ID into them. You want Touch ID, a 6 year old technology on a modern device? That’s the iPhone SE. When wearing a mask with Face ID one needs only enter their passcode to unlock. It’s not optimal but it’s entirely an unforeseen situation Apple couldn’t have anticipated.

I like wheels on my car.
I also like my grandmother
I like breathing air also.

Just because something if a few years old, does not mean it's no good.
Changing from something that's works well, simply because you want to change things is not progress.

People are guessing about the lock-in, and the lock-in will greatly depend on what part of any design we are talking about. Some aspect will have to be locked in far far sooner than otherwise expected.
Also, please don't underestimate the ability for any company, even one as large as Apple to change rapidly if they REALLY need to.
If a bad flaw was discovered today on the new iPhone do you really think Apple would not to anything or make any changes, as hey, that's locked in now.

The general agreement has been for some time, having both Face ID and Touch ID is the ideal scenario.
Neither system works perfect in every scenario, so the user can use the best one that works for them at the time.
And of course then, for high security reasons, perhaps banking you could use both together for the ultimate security.

 

[robinp]

100% Apple Pay since at least one year. Also, I basically dropped cash completely since the pandemic (except for parking, etc).

It's been one of those good things to come from the pandemic; that shops that were too lazy and still cash only are now almost all now accepting contactless / cards.

 

[Blackstick]

I gave up my traditional wallet and went to a sleeve today. Holds 3/4 cards plus a few folded bills. Feels great!

Florida is adopting digital drivers licenses next year, one of the first states in the nation to do it- so that’s one less card too 👍

 

[iReality85]

I haven't really used cash in years, maybe sparsely whenever I happen to have bills on me. Paper money is just not something I carry on me. That and, paper money is just nasty. I don't like handling it.

As far as supplanting credit cards, I think contactless payment has a ways to go, as credit cards are just as convenient.

I gave up my traditional wallet and went to a sleeve today. Holds 3/4 cards plus a few folded bills. Feels great!

Florida is adopting digital drivers licenses next year, one of the first states in the nation to do it- so that’s one less card too 👍

That's really cool, and I hope more states do that. Would help in all sorts of situations where ID is required. Voting being one of them.

 

[Apple_Robert]

It is good to see more and more people using contactless payment. It is a shame that it took something as bad as the pandemic to move more in that direction.

 

[iphonehype]

Can't remember the last time I used my actual card, must be a year at least. UK has been very good at adopting contactless even before Covid.

 

[psxp]

The design for iPhone 12/Pro was locked in before Covid hit so it’s blindly pessimistic to think it was laziness that kept Apple from incorporating Touch ID into them. You want Touch ID, a 6 year old technology on a modern device? That’s the iPhone SE. When wearing a mask with Face ID one needs only enter their passcode to unlock. It’s not optimal but it’s entirely an unforeseen situation Apple couldn’t have anticipated.

they had the new touch id on the power button from the iPad Air... thats not "old" tech. Thats new considering how well it works in that form factor.

 

[catean]

they had the new touch id on the power button from the iPad Air... thats not "old" tech. Thats new considering how well it works in that form factor.

Hope we will see the new power button with touch id implemented in the next iPhones. I will hold upgrading to 12 due to lack of this.

 

[truthertech]

I don’t know of a state where providing your name/date of birth is not sufficient. Also, the police cannot go through your phone (without consent or a warrant) if your ID is on there.

Every state requires you to produce a driver’s license when stopped. Ditto vehicle registration. As we migrate to digital licenses, states will have to amend their laws.

 

[7thson]

I like wheels on my car.
I also like my grandmother
I like breathing air also.

Just because something if a few years old, does not mean it's no good.
Changing from something that's works well, simply because you want to change things is not progress.

People are guessing about the lock-in, and the lock-in will greatly depend on what part of any design we are talking about. Some aspect will have to be locked in far far sooner than otherwise expected.
Also, please don't underestimate the ability for any company, even one as large as Apple to change rapidly if they REALLY need to.
If a bad flaw was discovered today on the new iPhone do you really think Apple would not to anything or make any changes, as hey, that's locked in now.

The general agreement has been for some time, having both Face ID and Touch ID is the ideal scenario.
Neither system works perfect in every scenario, so the user can use the best one that works for them at the time.
And of course then, for high security reasons, perhaps banking you could use both together for the ultimate security.

The iPhone 4 shipped with what many considered a major design flaw. They remedied it with a free bumper for those that wanted one. The antenna band was modified/fixed for the 4s.
The 6s+ got a reinforced shell after the 6+ was found to bend too easily.

Look at the Touch ID on the iPad Air 4. It’s much larger now. It certainly won’t work under a case so a cutout will be necessary now if one is desired. And what about the added space for the internals of this new edition? There’s more room in an iPad to fit components but an iPhone not so much.

Even a minor design tweak, like to the curvature of the corners, would require a massive amount of time and attention. Add a component without changing the overall layout and schematics? Pipe dreaming to think it could be done in less than half a year before full production.

 

[I7guy]

That's great Tim.
It's just a pity you have to take your mask off, and risk infection/death when you need to unlock your phone with face ID.
Everyone in the media seems to be saying Touch ID should have been a priority to have put in the power button for this years models, and from NOW thru the rest of this year and into most of next year? if the exact time this is needed.

Nice hyperbole. I don't take off my mask. I type my password in. It's no big deal. People are under a mistaken impression it's easy to just slap new hardware features on a phone and update system software at the snap of a finger.

To me, it's not any type of a "big deal" to type in my passcode when I'm wearing a mask. Of course, YMMV on these things.

 

[truthertech]

They're currently piloting it at QFC, actually. If it goes well, it should end up at all of their other brands at some point.

They’ve resisted in the vain hope that they could get folks to use Kroger Pay instead (LOL). The other hindrance is that most of their stores had yet to implement the new pay terminals with NFC-Covid is changing this.

 

[dtrj787]

I've noticed. Especially when the cashier doesn't make some shocked face, that I just paid with my phone. Then replies back, "Cool".

 

[machpost]

What about contactless cards? I don't use Apple Pay, but my card never leaves my hands and I don't have to touch any terminals. Not unless the transaction is above ~$200, but I guess with Apple Pay you need to provide PIN in such scenario as well.

Yeah, over the summer I was mailed new debit and credit cards that all have contactless capabilities built in. Slightly more convenient than using Apple Pay, albeit far less secure in some situations.

 

[Damian83]

it's funny that in USA, "the country of credit cards, where you must have one in order to live decently", contactless=apple pay, while in europe ALL cards, released from maybe 5 years or more, have nfc chip that's completely independent by apple pay. and of course near ALL merchants have a contactless POS that don't need to be applepay enabled (even if u added that card to apple wallet and pay by phone).

 

[remington79]

I hardly ever use my XS for ApplePay anymore. Apple Watch makes a simple process even simpler. On the rare occasion I have left the house without my Apple Watch, I’ve never felt like entering a passcode was that much of an inconvenience. I’m more annoyed by the terminals that require a freaking signature. A signature! In the year of our lord 2020!

I was doing back to school shopping at Academy for the kids. We took them on separate days. The first day I used Apple Pay just fine. The second day it wanted me to provide a signature. This happened one time at Old Navy too. Each time I said something and on a second transaction I ended up doing they did something where I didn’t have to sign.
The weird part was I never had to sign at Academy before it was just the one time.

 

[tmiw]

They’ve resisted in the vain hope that they could get folks to use Kroger Pay instead (LOL). The other hindrance is that most of their stores had yet to implement the new pay terminals with NFC-Covid is changing this.

Kroger uses the same Verifone terminals the places that do support contactless use, it just needed to be enabled.

That said, many merchants in the US have their terminal integration such that it very well may need significant development work to do so. Why put that effort in if no one is going to use it? Especially if you're already not a huge fan of cards in general.

it's funny that in USA, "the country of credit cards, where you must have one in order to live decently", contactless=apple pay, while in europe ALL cards, released from maybe 5 years or more, have nfc chip that's completely independent by apple pay. and of course near ALL merchants have a contactless POS that don't need to be applepay enabled (even if u added that card to apple wallet and pay by phone).

For most people in the US, Apple Pay came before contactless cards, so it's no surprise that's what we call it here.

 

[dontwalkhand]

I gave up my traditional wallet and went to a sleeve today. Holds 3/4 cards plus a few folded bills. Feels great!

Florida is adopting digital drivers licenses next year, one of the first states in the nation to do it- so that’s one less card too 👍

Delaware, Colorado and Louisiana are the first states who have already done it. Arizona & California is in beta testing right now. Florida isn’t first.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Every state requires you to produce a driver’s license when stopped. Ditto vehicle registration. As we migrate to digital licenses, states will have to amend their laws.

The states that did adopt digital licenses amended their laws to say that a business and law enforcement must accept these as a regular ID card. Law enforcement isn’t the problem. Uninformed businesses are, like when Apple Pay was new.

 

[remington79]

Kroger uses the same Verifone terminals the places that do support contactless use, it just needed to be enabled.

That said, many merchants in the US have their terminal integration such that it very well may need significant development work to do so. Why put that effort in if no one is going to use it? Especially if you're already not a huge fan of cards in general.



For most people in the US, Apple Pay came before contactless cards, so it's no surprise that's what we call it here.

I just received my first contactless credit card last week. Earlier this year I got a credit card and it wasn’t and a debit card that wasn’t.

 

[tmiw]

I just received my first contactless credit card last week. Earlier this year I got a credit card and it wasn’t and a debit card that wasn’t.

Yep, banks here only recently (within the last year-ish) started issuing them. It's debatable whether it's because their bet on people just using Apple Pay and similar en masse didn't pan out quite as well as hoped or some other reason.

 

[libertysat]

What’s upsetting is that Kroger is one of the biggest hold outs. Not even a pandemic will make them implement Apple Pay

Vote with your wallet
Go to their competition

 

[remington79]

Vote with your wallet
Go to their competition

For me Kroger and Walmart are the only grocery stores. There is a third but it’s overpriced. We usually order ahead online and my Apple Card is stored and used but I just use the physical card in the store.

 

[7thson]

they had the new touch id on the power button from the iPad Air... thats not "old" tech. Thats new considering how well it works in that form factor.

I was referring to the home button Touch ID. If you’re suggesting that they can just swap an iPhone 12 side button for an ipad air 4 power/Touch ID button you’re fantasizing. iPad Air 4 Touch ID literally went sideways, whereas the new iPhone form factor never incorporated it and as far as we know, may never. There’s even speculation that when/if they do via under screen it will be limited to China. That could change, it all could change but the assertion that they could have implemented a Touch ID side button into the 12 series at the 11th hour is ludicrous.

Only the pandemic has really brought the focus back to Touch ID. If I were to bet $ on whether it shows up in next years iPhones, I would bet against it. I just don’t see a combo being a priority, even with the pandemic. Maybe, just maybe in the max version where the component cost can be justified by charging more $.