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Did you visit Germany?

I recently visited Germany in August. Most small businesses, even in big cities, there are cash only. So, I was not able to use card payment or Apple Pay and other NFC contactless payments.

In Europe, if businesses accept card payment, then they also accept Apple Pay and other NFC contactless payments. I guess there are some countries in Europe that will stay dominant in cash payment.

This is definitely not a problem in USA.
No, I haven't been to Germany for many years. It's so rare to see 'cash only' in the UK. More often I see cards only which always means phone as well. Covid accelerated the move and it was just old people who were annoyed about it. But I'm 69 and I never use cash.
 
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Does this include young people. Truly, I don't see kids using cash in the UK. How can the US be at the forefront of tech and people not want to be using what's available on their phones?
It includes people of all ages who shop at Walmart. At this point, who shops at Walmart clearly isn’t minding and couldn’t care less about them not accepting contactless.
 
It includes people of all ages who shop at Walmart. At this point, who shops at Walmart clearly isn’t minding and couldn’t care less about them not accepting contactless.
Well, there you go. We may speak roughly the same language but ......
 
Mostly. It's for people who only care about price, not quality or their own time.
This is pretty close-minded. There are some small towns that don't have many options. You can say what you want about Walmart moving in to those small towns, but still, options are limited.
 
Personally, I'm surprised enough people are using the Walmart app for payment that Walmart feels that they can continue not accepting contactless. Then again, I've never used it so maybe it is actually pretty easy to use or something.
 
I’m sure you’re not the only one, but you’re still part of a very tiny minority. Most people couldn’t care less whether a store takes contactless or not, which is why Walmart can refuse to turn it on and face practically no consequence.
I'm not part of a tiny minority.

60% of shoppers in 2024 used Apple Pay in a store.

Fifty-one percent of people say they would stop shopping with a merchant that doesn’t accept payments from digital wallets.

Over 70% of people said they would make digital wallets their primary method for shopping, while another 62% said they would for travel.

 
It includes people of all ages who shop at Walmart. At this point, who shops at Walmart clearly isn’t minding and couldn’t care less about them not accepting contactless.
Or needs to shop at Walmart for whatever reason. Either way, it seems a vocal minority to those who object to non-nfc payments for Walmart.
 
60% of shoppers in 2024 used Apple Pay in a store.

The 60% figure seems way too high given that only around 85% to 90% of in-store shoppers in the U.S. have a smartphone of some kind (iOS, Android) and only around 55% to 60% of those use an iPhone.

Perhaps 60% of people who used a mobile payment/digital wallet system in a store used Apple Pay but not 60% of all shoppers? Even that seems a bit high.
 
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The 60% figure seems way too high given that only around 85% to 90% of in-store shoppers in the U.S. have a smartphone of some kind (iOS, Android) and only around 55% to 60% of those use an iPhone.

Perhaps 60% of people who used a mobile payment/digital wallet system in a store used Apple Pay but not 60% of all shoppers? Even that seems a bit high.
Doesn't mean they use it regularly. Just that they used it once in the calendar year. Seems totally reasonable to me.
 
Doesn't mean they use it regularly. Just that they used it once in the calendar year. Seems totally reasonable to me.

Percentage still seems high to me but if we're including people only using Apple Pay as little as once a year, it's pretty insignificant in the big picture.
 
Even the vending machines where I am in Scotland take contactless, including Apple Pay. Sooo much more secure than cash and signature-matching a physical credit card, and even more secure than chip and pin. When contactless came out in the UK I thought it would be a security disaster, but it has been fine so far because most mobile phones offer biometric ID functions. I wonder what the relative fraud rates are for credit cards in the US versus the UK....
If the US had higher credit card fraud rates, the American banks would have a lot more incentive to introduce safer procedures, especially since they offer pretty robust fraud protection to the credit card holders.

I suspect it’s low enough that the cost of pushing the more secure technology still outweighs the cost of fraud.
 
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Does this include young people. Truly, I don't see kids using cash in the UK. How can the US be at the forefront of tech and people not want to be using what's available on their phones?
Don’t forget that outside of a few downtown areas, practically every teen in the US carries a driver’s license before they turn 18.

If you already have a card on you at all times, bringing a second card is not a big deal.

Using tap to pay with a card is every bit as convenient as with a phone.

Also, they don’t really get to chose what card their parents give them…
 
Don’t forget that outside of a few downtown areas, practically every teen in the US carries a driver’s license before they turn 18.

If you already have a card on you at all times, bringing a second card is not a big deal.

Using tap to pay with a card is every bit as convenient as with a phone.

Also, they don’t really get to chose what card their parents give them…
Teens can get whatever cards they want when they turn 18. I don't even know why you bought that up. Young people includes anyone under age 25.

Also, Apple's market share has nothing to do with consumers ability to use contactless. We should be talking about the smartphone market share, which is 92% of the US population.

Also the percentage of people who use contactless at least once a week is pretty high. I think it's like 25%. It's a lot higher now than it was 4 years ago.
 
Don’t forget that outside of a few downtown areas, practically every teen in the US carries a driver’s license before they turn 18.
Interestingly, that has dropped quite significantly over the years. While 80% of 18-year-olds had a license in 1983, only 59% did in 2021. With the cost of insurance and cars skyrocketing, I bet those numbers have dropped further.
If you already have a card on you at all times, bringing a second card is not a big deal.
Don't forget a lot of states now support digital licenses in Apple Wallet.
Using tap to pay with a card is every bit as convenient as with a phone.
I find that not so, especially in the wintertime. Removing a card from a wallet usually involves taking a glove off and fishing it out. With the phone, it's much quicker. With the Apple Watch, you don't even have to grab your phone.
 
Interestingly, that has dropped quite significantly over the years. While 80% of 18-year-olds had a license in 1983, only 59% did in 2021. With the cost of insurance and cars skyrocketing, I bet those numbers have dropped further.

Don't forget a lot of states now support digital licenses in Apple Wallet.

I find that not so, especially in the wintertime. Removing a card from a wallet usually involves taking a glove off and fishing it out. With the phone, it's much quicker. With the Apple Watch, you don't even have to grab your phone.
Maybe it's just habit. Yesterday in a hotel my friend reached for a card as we split the bill. I reached for my phone. He's a cautious coder who doesn't really trust the system at play whereas I'm going by the track record of Apple pay as I experience it - that is, it appears reliable, secure and always to hand. I can switch between euros and pounds in a blink of an eyelid. If some major issue arises that would change. I guess I'm just surprised that in the country where it originated it isn't more prevalent.
 
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Interestingly, that has dropped quite significantly over the years. While 80% of 18-year-olds had a license in 1983, only 59% did in 2021. With the cost of insurance and cars skyrocketing, I bet those numbers have dropped further.
2021 was a weird year, with us coming out of COVID. Can't get a DL if you can't get through Drivers Ed and everything is closed.

While young people do tend to get DL's at a later age, by 20-24 80% still do.


Also, the cost of car and insurance is more of parents' problem. If I have the choice between paying for some or all of my kids' major car expenses, or having to chauffer them everywhere at 18, or having them stuck at home without a social life or college or jobs... it's a simple choice.

Don't forget a lot of states now support digital licenses in Apple Wallet.

Only 14 states and Puerto Rico.


This leaves out 36 states that do not.

I find that not so, especially in the wintertime. Removing a card from a wallet usually involves taking a glove off and fishing it out. With the phone, it's much quicker. With the Apple Watch, you don't even have to grab your phone.

We're talking about very young people. Not everyone can afford a $400 AW.

And if you're paying in a restaurant or inside a department store, why would you have your gloves on in first place?
 
Teens can get whatever cards they want when they turn 18. I don't even know why you bought that up. Young people includes anyone under age 25.

A bit contradictory, isn't it?

I brought it up because I have teens and 20 year old in the family.

A c/c with a low credit limit is still technically a card, and that's all they are getting at first. But it's only good for building up credit. I have a kid living in a college town 2 hrs away, I want her to have a real credit card for emergencies and so that she could learn how to live independently. Of course this requires a certain level of trust on my part and maturity on hers.

This is a fairly typical setup both among our adult friends, and my kids' friends.

Also, Apple's market share has nothing to do with consumers ability to use contactless. We should be talking about the smartphone market share, which is 92% of the US population.
The US population clearly has other priorities.
Also the percentage of people who use contactless at least once a week is pretty high. I think it's like 25%. It's a lot higher now than it was 4 years ago.

It's definitely growing.

I just don't think the contactless payment is among the top 3 reasons to choose a store for most people. It's one of the things that contribute to checkout speed, but hardly the most important one. Location, cost, selection, the number of accessible registers, all of that matters a lot more. The local Meijer was one of the earliest stores to offer tap-to-pay, but they had such long checkout lanes that I've avoided them like a plague, until they fixed it.
 
Personally, I'm surprised enough people are using the Walmart app for payment that Walmart feels that they can continue not accepting contactless. Then again, I've never used it so maybe it is actually pretty easy to use or something.
I’ve been a Walmart+ member for a year now and love the convenience. I especially love the Scan and Go feature. I scan and bag my items as I’m shopping, go to the designated lane for Walmart+/Spark, scan the QR code, select the card I want to use, pay for my items, and then watch the receipt appear on my phone within seconds. I also love the free delivery fee if I decide to have groceries or items delivered to my home, the $.10 off a gallon at Exxon, Paramount+ membership, and other perks. I use my PayPal debit card for the 5% in cash back for groceries, instead of using my credit union debit card and credit cards.
 
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I’ve been a Walmart+ member for a year now and love the convenience. I especially love the Scan and Go feature. I scan and bag my items as I’m shopping, go to the designated lane for Walmart+/Spark, scan the QR code, select the card I want to use, pay for my items, and then watch the receipt appear on my phone within seconds. I also love the free delivery fee if I decide to have groceries or items delivered to my home, the $.10 off a gallon at Exxon, Paramount+ membership, and other perks. I use my PayPal debit card for the 5% in cash back for groceries, instead of using my credit union debit card and credit cards.
Even with all those perks, I still won’t shop at walmart. As long as I still have to store my real card info on their servers, no thank you. I find it unacceptable that their apps and website give no payment options other than manually entering one’s card info.
 
Even with all those perks, I still won’t shop at walmart. As long as I still have to store my real card info on their servers, no thank you. I find it unacceptable that their apps and website give no payment options other than manually entering one’s card info.
For me it isn’t ApplePay and it isn’t the perks. Walmart avoidance for me is driven by my decided lack of excitement for (1) returning to my car up on blocks, (2) getting mugged in the parking lot, (3) having to deal with exclusively self-checkout lines, and (4) constantly be pushed aside inside the store by the 300lb+ shoppers in their thong bikinis and flip flops.
 
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Even with all those perks, I still won’t shop at walmart. As long as I still have to store my real card info on their servers, no thank you. I find it unacceptable that their apps and website give no payment options other than manually entering one’s card info.
Do you use your card at restaurants or other small businesses? Because that’s where the majority of fraud originates.
 
Even with all those perks, I still won’t shop at walmart. As long as I still have to store my real card info on their servers, no thank you. I find it unacceptable that their apps and website give no payment options other than manually entering one’s card info.
Well it works for me and I’m going to continue shopping at Walmart and other businesses even if they don’t support Apple Pay. I don’t use my credit union debit card or credit card in those situations. I use my prepaid debit card or cash whichever is convenient at that moment.
 
The 60% figure seems way too high given that only around 85% to 90% of in-store shoppers in the U.S. have a smartphone of some kind (iOS, Android) and only around 55% to 60% of those use an iPhone.

Perhaps 60% of people who used a mobile payment/digital wallet system in a store used Apple Pay but not 60% of all shoppers? Even that seems a bit high.
I find even 60% using digital wallets is high in the US. Even tap to pay which includes digital wallets and cc might be high since I notice most people in stores around me still insert their cc in machine
 
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