Pretty soon, it’s going to be hard to find a bank in the U.S. that doesn’t offer Apple Pay:
Apple Pay officially expanded to its sixth country yesterday with Apple adding support for Singapore and today, the company has added support for over 50 new banks and credit unions in the United States.
(From Apple Pay comes to over 50 new banks and credit unions in the United States | 9to5Mac)
Rant time: seeing an article like this just reminds me how hard it is to find merchants who accept contactless payment options like Apple Pay, at least where I’m located in Pennsylvania. It’s telling that I’m pleasantly surprised when I discover a merchant that accepts Apple Pay, instead of being disappointed when one doesn’t.
I have no clue what Apple is doing behind the scenes to get more merchants on board, so I don’t know whether the fault lies with Apple, or with merchants who are slow to adopt change. I’d love to know if Apple has any incentives, such as subsidies for new contactless payment terminals, to get smaller merchants on board.
Once you’ve used Apple Pay (or, I presume, a competing contactless payment system like Android Pay), you realize just how simple it makes the checkout process, and don’t want to go back to using cash or a credit card. That’s doubly true if you’re paying from your Apple Watch. No more fumbling around for cash or a credit card. Checkout lines would be cut in half for some merchants. My wife is probably tired of hearing me say, “this line would be gone if all these people were using Apple Pay.”
So, come on folks, what’s the hold up?
James says:
I think one problem is that some merchants are unable to (or do not see the need to) upgrade their hardware. If I recall correctly, Apple Pay is using NFC technology and many machines don’t have that feature (I can only presume this is the case as I am living in NZ).
Samsung Pay ,on the other hand, emulate magnetic waves so that they can be used on ancient machines that only accepts cards by swiping its magnetic strips. This, plus other promotions, led to a widespread usage of Samsung pay in South Korea. My friends and relatives in Korea tell me they can actually leave their wallets at home!
I really wish this technology was shared between companies (fat chance!), so that it becomes more ubiquitous. Perhaps, one day people in Wellington and Pennsylvania could also use the latest technology to pay for their coffee instead of using pin codes.
April 20, 2016 — 12:00 am
Evan Kline says:
Wow, I had never heard of magnetic wave technology. Pretty cool.
April 20, 2016 — 4:39 pm
Scott O. says:
I dabbled with Apple Pay when I got my 6S but I found that most vendors required a digital signature and pushing option buttons regarding cash back and emailed receipts which takes as much or more time than just swiping the debit card and punching in my pin. There’s also the issue of having to pull out my rewards/loyalty cards anyway which don’t work with Apple Pay.
May 6, 2016 — 10:42 am
Evan Kline says:
I’ve even had vendors ask for signatures on paper receipts after I use Apple Pay. Frustrating. It’s still the early days, so hopefully it gets better. I still like swiping with my watch better than rooting around in my pocket for a credit/debit card, but there is still a long way to go.
May 6, 2016 — 11:26 am