Apple Pay Strategy (Which Cards on Which Devices)

[ecschwarz]

I was talking with a friend today, and we were discussing adding different cards to different devices based on context - do you load everything on every device you own or selectively add them based on use?

For example, my iPad only has the card I use for general purchases because that's what I typically buy on there, my iPhone has that, my debit card (for Apple Pay Cash), and a dining/groceries card. My Apple Watch has a few that I'd use in person, but wouldn't use for in-app uses (like Square Cash for the coffee Boost). I've debated about loading everything on every device, but thought I'd see if anyone has their own strategy.

 

[tonyduffe]

So I'm a bit of an Apple Pay fanatic so I have a extreme shortage of available slots in the secure enclave. So I'm always needing to remove additional cards when doing testing before writing articles and updating our website in spreadsheet.

All my devices have only 8 cards available except for my Apple Watch which is newer which can allow for up to 12.

In most situations all my devices have three cards on them with additionally 2 other cards on all devices except for the iPad as eftpos cannot be used on the web there's no need for these two cards to be on that device.

Which leaves 3 available slots on most devices. I have 2 cards that are used occasionally that are not on device but that's mainly because I can load and provision them instantly from their mobile phone banking app and for my purposes it's better to have three empty slots for testing.

In most cases 8 card's is more than enough for most people and that's been extended to 12 on newer devices, the normal recommendation I make is to put all cards that are relevant and could be possibly used on all the devices they would be used on even if that card would only be used twice a year.

And really only worry about thinking about managing cards once you getting close to the limit Devices like iPads are one device you may want to manage cards on as I'm guessing I'm not the only one that a lot of cards are not relevant to have on there.

 

[ecschwarz]

So I'm a bit of an Apple Pay fanatic so I have a extreme shortage of available slots in the secure enclave. So I'm always needing to remove additional cards when doing testing before writing articles and updating our website in spreadsheet...

Yeah, I had an "add everything" moment on my last iPhone (had been using Apple Pay since its release), and found myself running into the old limit with cards I wouldn't actually use ever (debit card for the credit union where my car loan was held, health savings account card - I did reimbursements anyway). Now everything on my iPhone has a use, even if it's very sparingly.

It's neat to hear someone outside of the US talk about their experiences, since it took awhile to get support in different places, despite many countries already having the contactless infrastructure already in place (if only our retailers would enable NFC).

 

[MisterSavage]

One card on my iPad and my iPhone and watch mirror each other. I could remove two cards from my iPhone. They're "sock drawer" cards with no annual fee. I just do a charge once every couple months to keep them alive. I've been getting something from the vending machine with my watch to do that so the iPhone versions aren't really needed.