Apple Pay - A year later, what's the verdict?

[aajeevlin]

Keep in mind that Apple Pay is more than just NFC payments, but a mechanism for easily paying for stuff inside apps as well. The way I see it, NFC maybe* solves a pain point in the current shopping paradigm that in a way was introduced by the move to chip, but doesn't do anything to help with how things will shape up over the long term.

Basically, we have the technology now to provide shoppers with a checkout-free shopping experience. Imagine having items be scanned as they're placed in a cart. An app running on the phone keeps a running total of your shopping. When you're done, paying for those items is as simple as using Touch ID. (Even Apple does this with their own app when you're buying accessories at an Apple Store.) It's not just stores either; imagine not having to wait for a server at a restaurant to take your card and bring it back when it's time to pay. Scan a QR or barcode inside, say, OpenTable, pay with Apple Pay inside the app and you're done.

The prospect of not having to wait for a human to handle your transaction is what mobile payments actually bring to the table, not being able to tap your phone or watch against a reader. And I think retailers are at least considering that as a possibility as evidenced by what Target and Walmart are doing; if they can get people accustomed to using those apps to pay instead of NFC, then an "express" checkout system for those people who would otherwise use the self-checkout machines is not a huge jump.

* "Maybe" because with a properly optimized chip terminal, NFC does not save that much time compared to using the chip. Especially when no PIN or signature's required under $50 anyway regardless of how you use your card.

I see your point and I would love to live a world where those scenarios would eventually become a reality. But for now, at least not the near future I don't expect any of that. For me, Apple pushed Apple Pay in for both BM as well as online, they even go as far as to install and push NFC payment as a selling point for iPhone 6 (part of the reason that I upgraded from my beloved iPhone 5 form factor). I honestly can't say that I have hear any rumors regarding any Apple Pay improvements or efforts/attempts, besides increase their availability in other countries.

I think I, along with many people here probably gave it a good amount of effort. I'd say sure, let's give it a few more years but in the mean time I'm going back to CC swipe or chip-signature.

 

[tmiw]

I see your point and I would love to live a world where those scenarios would eventually become a reality. But for now, at least not the near future I don't expect any of that. For me, Apple pushed Apple Pay in for both BM as well as online, they even go as far as to install and push NFC payment as a selling point for iPhone 6 (part of the reason that I upgraded from my beloved iPhone 5 form factor). I honestly can't say that I have hear any rumors regarding any Apple Pay improvements or efforts/attempts, besides increase their availability in other countries.

I think I, along with many people here probably gave it a good amount of effort. I'd say sure, let's give it a few more years but in the mean time I'm going back to CC swipe or chip-signature.

Checkout through an app without human involvement is likely a long-term thing. I know I've felt weird paying for accessories at the Apple Store with the app.

On a shorter term basis though, chip and signature likely killed any chance for 100% NFC acceptance in this country. Not only on the customer end, but also with merchants. I've seen a lot of places that have kept their bad habits even after upgrading to chip. Every restaurant I've been to that read the chip didn't bother with the portable terminals like in other countries, for instance--cards were still taken away and brought back, with the only difference being what the receipt said. Even outside of restaurants a lot of smaller places still keep the terminal or even PIN pad (!) hidden from the reach of customers, like this one place I saw a few months back:

Honestly, I'm only expecting that we'll eventually get to ~50% acceptance at best (basically the places that can accept debit plus Square merchants), despite the hardware being there at more places than that. Switching to PIN wholesale will likely salvage NFC by forcing merchants to adopt better habits, but that will take a long time. Even if we started tomorrow, it'll be at least 3-5 years before all of the cards are replaced again. Starting tomorrow would probably not be realistic either since a) issuers would likely want us to get used to chip first and b) a lot of new chip terminals in the US don't support PIN at all, so it'd likely take close to a decade--first to finish replacing everyone's swipe-only cards with chip and signature, then to start rolling out PIN.

And as we've seen, a decade is a long time in tech. Perhaps we'll end up skipping NFC entirely by then.

 

[Deliro]

One reason I rarely even try Apple Pay anymore is because seeing the logo is no guarantee that it is going to work.

For example, I saw the logo the other week at The Gap but when I tried Apple Pay it failed and the clerk said they don't support it, even though the terminal theoretically DOES.

I'm not going to waste my time trying Apple Pay if half the time it fails due to a misconfigured terminal. Swiping my card ALWAYS works, so I'll just do that. It's a shame because Apple Pay had potential.

Yep, I gave up on Apple Pay awhile ago. While the concept is great, the retailers I go to often just don't accept it. And I grew weary of the whole awkwardness of trying to get it to work on both confirmed and unconfirmed retailers. At Subway, the 3 times I attempted it, all failed or the employee stated that "It doesn't work here." And forget about asking the employees if Apple Pay is accepted at their location, it's a time waster.

 

[Internaut]

Used it in a shop, for the first time, today. It worked, it's slick and it's convenient. I suspect we get a more consistent experience, here in Old Europe. The in app purchase is also appreciated. I can now buy public transport (tram only, for the time being, here in sub-tropical Manchester) that are then stored in an app.

Trouble is, Apple isn't my primary phone. I keep a 6 handy, for the work SIM, but otherwise I'm a diehard fandroid these days. I wish Google would hurry up with Android Pay outside of the US.

 

[cub850G2]

Used it in a shop, for the first time, today. It worked, it's slick and it's convenient. I suspect we get a more consistent experience, here in Old Europe. The in app purchase is also appreciated. I can now buy public transport (tram only, for the time being, here in sub-tropical Manchester) that are then stored in an app.

Trouble is, Apple isn't my primary phone. I keep a 6 handy, for the work SIM, but otherwise I'm a diehard fandroid these days. I wish Google would hurry up with Android Pay outside of the US.

I think the longer the USA has chip cards the more people will look for a faster way to pay and contactless is indeed faster than chip according to other countries(Canada, Australia, and England) that have already had chip for awhile. Also Android Pay is actually coming to Australia in 2016, so maybe England sometime after that?

 

[tmiw]

I think the longer the USA has chip cards the more people will look for a faster way to pay and contactless is indeed faster than chip according to other countries(Canada, Australia, and England) that have already had chip for awhile. Also Android Pay is actually coming to Australia in 2016, so maybe England sometime after that?

The UK had chip and PIN since 2005 or so and only really got contactless within the last couple of years. I can totally see the US taking a decade if not longer before accepting contactless.

 

[aajeevlin]

The UK had chip and PIN since 2005 or so and only really got contactless within the last couple of years. I can totally see the US taking a decade if not longer before accepting contactless.

I feel that if the merchants will make a push for it, it can be a lot faster. For example, best buy is pushing chip-signature hard, the last couple of times I was in the store they were always asking people to use the chip for payment. I think it's a very smart move, it might be annoying at first but if they can get all (hypothetically) of their customer to use chip, they can afford to suffer a breach of their database and not worry too much about it as compare to the massive Target fail.

I feel that chip-signature is going to win out in the end, simply because not everyone has a NFC device (or they will have to pay for it). As compared to credit card which is free to get. I have no special attachment to anything, as long as we increase the overall security I'm fine either way.

 

[Internaut]

I remember shopping at Whole Foods, in Plano TX, a few years back, and being told my signature wasn't required because the amount was below some level. Immediately I thought the credit card fraud levels must be very high in the US. We've had chip and PIN for a long time, and it's had big impact on some types of credit card crime.

 

[ericgtr12]

I love it, I don't love the industry moving at a snail's pace to adapt to new things.

Exactly, Apple Pay usually takes me 2 to 3 seconds. Chip & Pin is fugly no matter how you look at it, even at its best so far has been more than 40 seconds for me, although I understand there are faster terminals, I have just never experienced one. While I get it's more secure, it's a step backward in speed and convenience.

 

[tmiw]

I feel that chip-signature is going to win out in the end, simply because not everyone has a NFC device (or they will have to pay for it). As compared to credit card which is free to get. I have no special attachment to anything, as long as we increase the overall security I'm fine either way.

One thing that NFC does have going for it though is that it's being included in more and more mid and lower-level phones. For instance, my Nexus 5X has it and it costed half of what the iPhone 6 did. There's also the chance that banks might decide to issue contactless cards at some point, which honestly might be the only way people will use NFC payments.

 

[poorcody]

I've used Apple Pay probably over 100 times in the past year. In fact the card I have behind it has never been swiped. I did change some of my shopping habits (e.g. switched from CVS to Walgreens and now to Rite Aid), but once I did I found it extremely convenient and it gives me a piece of mind with the security after having my number stolen twice.

I will say cashiers are much more aware of it, even places that don't offer it. They used to say, "What?" but now they say, "No, we don't support it yet" or such. And with merchants that do support it but hadn't trained their staff (e.g. random Subways, McDonalds), that has improved a lot in the last year as well.

There are still places I wish I could use it (grocery store, Home Depot) but it is a regular part of my routine now, and a positive one.

 

[mlody]

I never had iPhone 6 so my experience with Apple Pay actually started not that long ago when I got my 6S. Like many here, I was super excited to try it out,but that excitement quickly wore out after trying it out few times here and there.

The only place that ApplePay worked as advertised for me was/is Panera Bread!!! Most other places, either ask for signature or some other silly things making the whole experience 5x more difficult than actually using a regular credit card.

Today, I went to my local Jewel-Osco where I shop occasionally (1-2 times a month). I always was able to use ApplePay there, but today a lady asked me for the last 4 digits of the card which I gave her and she told me that it didn't work. At the end I had to use my card. I wonder if in my situation the employee was just clueless on how to process the transaction or was something actually wrong with the terminal.

 

[Internaut]

Having used it for the first time, just this week, I've found it has worked everywhere I've used it. So far, I've tried Co-Op, Costa and Aldi. I suspect that finding it doesn't work, at a place that takes contactless, will be the exception rather than the rule, at least in the UK.

 

[tmiw]

I never had iPhone 6 so my experience with Apple Pay actually started not that long ago when I got my 6S. Like many here, I was super excited to try it out,but that excitement quickly wore out after trying it out few times here and there.

The only place that ApplePay worked as advertised for me was/is Panera Bread!!! Most other places, either ask for signature or some other silly things making the whole experience 5x more difficult than actually using a regular credit card.

Today, I went to my local Jewel-Osco where I shop occasionally (1-2 times a month). I always was able to use ApplePay there, but today a lady asked me for the last 4 digits of the card which I gave her and she told me that it didn't work. At the end I had to use my card. I wonder if in my situation the employee was just clueless on how to process the transaction or was something actually wrong with the terminal.

I wouldn't really call asking for a signature a failure of Apple Pay. Samsung Pay users have to sign for some purchases too yet there are no complaints from that camp (likely because they can use it in a lot more places than any of the NFC only solutions).