“The Apple Watch may have gotten a lot of the focus in this week’s quarterly earnings call, but I was more excited by the few tidbits we got on one of my favorite features: Apple Pay,” Dan Moren writes for Macworld.
“I love Apple Pay,” Moren writes. “In particular, I end up using it at the grocery store and I’ve probably fielded more questions from the cashiers there than anyone else—particularly when I use the Apple Watch. Honestly, my only real complaint is that I wish Apple Pay were available in more places that I frequent. But I’m hoping that if the latest developments in the payment service are any indication, Apple Pay is still in its infancy, and has a long way to go.”
“Apple Pay couldn’t come at a better time, thanks to the imminent transition to more secure forms of payment, such as chip-based credit cards,” Moren writes. “Starting in mid-October, the liability for fraud on magnetic swipe transitions at most retail locations shifts from the card issuer to the retailer itself. That’s a big incentive for stores to switch to terminals that accept cards with embedded chips or NFC payments — such as Apple Pay.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Pet peeve: Sunlight is incompatible with scanners dangling out of Dunkin’ Donuts and other drive-thru windows trying to scan Apple Watches for QR codes. For Apple Pay, it’s also a messy system (wires not long enough on terminal, drivers having to stick their arms in the window, etcetera).
Standardized exterior readers, located outside the drive-thru windows, that are easy for driver to hold their wrist up to would be a Godsend for Apple Watch users of whom there will be many, many more. It’d be easier for iPhone users, too. Establishments with drive-thru windows: Make it easy for us to pay you, not a chore! (And please train your staff about these payment systems, too!)
Or just stop eating the filth drive through sell? Just a thought.
My biggest disappointment is with Apple Pay not making its way to Canada, where chip and PIN has been the norm for while now. There are Canadian Banks already set up on Apple Pay but only for their U.S. Customers.
I use Apple pay in Canada all the time, but it’s only with my American Express or US based debit. It’s been functioning since the iPhone 6 was released last year. My Canadian card, however, has to be tapped on the reader to pay. I’ve tried to set it up on Apple pay only to be rebuffed by my Apple watch.
What will be really interesting is when Japan gets Apple Pay. They have had phone payments for years.