I am very excited about Apple Pay. (Disclaimer: Yes, I am a big Apple fan.)
In my opinion, it is the biggest game-changer that Apple announced recently.
It has kind of been overshadowed by the iPhone 6 (and Plus). And the Apple Watch. And iPad Air 2. And more.
However, it went live last week, and I have been testing it every opportunity I get.
Out of the gate, I must say I am very impressed. Apple Pay will make it easier and quicker to make payments both in-store and especially online.
Can Apple Pay Replace Your Physical Credit Cards?
I am happy to replace my physical credit cards. In fact, my cards have been stolen three times in the past 9 months. (Target, Home Depot, and even a local incident… probably a restaurant.)
So, I welcome Apple Pay’s convenience and security. (Its single use codes would have prevented all three of these incidents.)
The best part of Apple Pay is how easy it is to use. Just wave your iPhone 6 over the payment terminal and up pops Passbook ready to pay. You then place your finger on the TouchID sensor and you are done.
Apple Pay was very easy to set up. You can simply add your existing iTunes card to your Passbook. Or you can scan (via the iPhone’s camera) your existing card.
It is important to note that your credit card’s bank must be supporting Apple Pay. I successfully used my American Express Card, and am looking forward to USAA’s support of Apple Pay in the coming weeks.
In my shopping experiences, I successfully used Apple Pay in several locations:
- McDonald’s – McDonald’s seems to have payment systems set up in most locations for Apple Pay. Payment was so fast that the cashier didn’t realize I had paid, and then said, “Oh! You paid.”
- Champs Sporting Good – I purchased some athletic gear for my son here and it worked like a charm.
- Apple Store – I was intrigued that the Apple Store now takes Apple Pay because you have been able to pay via your iPhone with their Apple Store app for some time. (In fact, you can “self check out” via this app.) Now, the checkout devices the Apple employees utilize have the ability to accept Apple Pay via NFC. The were surprised when I paid via Apple Pay and said I was one of the first to use it in their location.
I also tried Apple Pay in a few locations that didn’t work out:
- Subway – The location I visited did not have the NFC checkout machine.
- Chevron – The gas station did not seem to have NFC payments on their pumps even though they had “Fast Pay.” I probably looked silly, waving my iPhone 6 all over the pump to see if it would take my payment.
The biggest thing that impressed me where Apple Pay is available was how quick and simple it was. It was lightning fast.
The simple user experience is going to win over a lot of consumers, and there are many iPhone 6 devices out there at this point.
Apple Pay = Quick and Easy Pay
I think Apple Pay is going to change the way we pay for things. Some retailers may be resisting, but the consumer is ultimately going to make this decision.
Apple Pay is simple to use and it’s crazy fast.
For me, it means less physical things I need to carry on my person. For now, I will still carry one of my physical credit cards, but will start using the others only via Apple Pay.
I look forward to seeing where this time-saving technology goes now that tens of millions of iPhones users have the ability to utilize it.
Question: What has been your Apple Pay experiences? If you haven’t used it, do you plan on trying it? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Great writeup. Only a few places in town are offering this as an option. I found myself going to McDonalds for the first time in forever just to use it. 🙂 Once this goes mainstream, it’s going to be a new day.
I do question how it’s a time saver, I mean waiving a credit card takes less time or at least the same time. The idea of a single serve pay device is probably the more intriguing one as you can load multiple cards on it I presume.