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Is Apple Pay supposed to be this difficult to use?

G

Guevara

Member
I added a credit card to Apple Pay a few weeks ago, thinking it would be easier than chip payments now that I noticed most places in my area accept it. Man was I wrong. First three attempts:

> Tried to use it in a NYC cab, it doesn't work. The cab driver clearly wants me to hurry up, and the passenger I'm with is already out of the cab. End up just using my credit card as usual.

> Tried to use it at a drug store. Never connected, and the cashier can't help. Once again I just pull out my wallet and use a credit card. But this time I'm paranoid it did charge, so I have to check my statement just to make sure I didn't get charged twice.

> Tried to use it at the grocery store. The cashier says "oh yeah, that doesn't work" even though it's advertised right on the terminal. Pull out the wallet again.

> Plus, anytime I touch the home button now, Apple Pay pops up. Which is almost never what I want.​

I ended up just removing the card and disabling the app completely. If it's this unreliable it's no better than just using a card, or maybe I'm just missing something. Somehow this shit is even more frustrating than chip payments.
 
D

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
It should only pop up if you double tap the home button. Then all you have to do is hold it close to the reader with your thumb on the touch ID, it will scan and ding.

If the place supports it I've generally never had an issue. It'll work from like 6" away too.
 
M

Majora

Member
That sounds like more of a problem with those vendors having shitty or broken contactless terminals than an actual issue with Apple Pay itself.

Never really had any problems with it in London but it's incredibly rare to find somewhere that doesn't have a working contactless terminal here nowadays.
 
J

jtb

Banned
I've never had an issue with it, but it wouldn't surprise me that a bunch of retailers are not particularly concerned with getting the contactless infrastructure up and running.
 
J

Joe Shlabotnik

Banned
When I first used it on my iPhone 6, that and Touch ID were very hit and miss and I had to re-teach Touch ID a lot. It eventually sorted itself out on the 6 somehow and I've never had any problems on the iPhone 7.
 
Hari Seldon

Hari Seldon

Member
Deadly Cyclone said:
It should only pop up if you double tap the home button. Then all you have to do is hold it close to the reader with your thumb on the touch ID, it will scan and ding.

If the place supports it I've generally never had an issue. It'll work from like 6" away too.
Click to expand...

Lol I have never figured out how to actually open it except by accident. Thanks for the actual instructions lol. I still probably won't use it.
 
B

Blablurn

Member
The western world is so backwards with electric payment. here in china, while apple pay is still a small market, weixin and alipay payment can be used basically everywhere. even the small fried rice vendor next door has a QR code for electronic payment. I hope it will spread to the west.
 
Voidwolf

Voidwolf

Member
It's been excellent for me, I've been using it for around 10 months now and I've recently added another card to it so I now find myself swapping between the two cards and I don't think it's ever failed. I'm not too sure about adding it to my apple watch though, has anyone tried that yet? I'm thinking there's no fingerprint scanner so how is it secure?
 
G

Guevara

Member
Deadly Cyclone said:
It should only pop up if you double tap the home button. Then all you have to do is hold it close to the reader with your thumb on the touch ID, it will scan and ding.

If the place supports it I've generally never had an issue. It'll work from like 6" away too.
Click to expand...

Ok that's really helpful.

I'm a idiot: Am I supposed to announce to the cashier "I would like to use Apple Pay!" or do I indicate some option on the reader itself?
 
V

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Your experience seems to be an outlier for it being that bad, but both Android and Apple Pay can be not so smooth sometimes.

Samsung Pay's voodoo is heads and shoulders above the other two.
 
Z

Zutroy

Member
I use it for about 90% of my purchases without issue. Helps that in the UK contactless is now more commonly available than not in my experience.
 
SuperPac

SuperPac

Member
I have definitely run into cabs where the NFC reader doesn't work or is in a weird location on the CC reader. Oftentimes, the cabbie doesn't know how to get it to work. But cabbies have never seemed enthused to take CCs period. So...

Drug stores - there was one (CVS?) that says it takes NFC payments but it doesn't take apple pay so trying to use it there would do nothing, sadly. They launched their own payment thing instead.

I have used Apple Pay a ton - in cabs, at restaurants, any place with an NFC reader that isn't CVS. And I've had way more successful attempts than failures. Cabs make up most of those failures and I'd blame that more on the reader hardware/software.

I've never had Apple Pay come up by accident from just touching the home button unless it's near an NFC reader. Only if I accidentally double-tap the home button.
 
K

Kill3r7

Member
Blablurn said:
The western world is so backwards with electric payment. here in china, while apple pay is still a small market, weixin and alipay payment can be used basically everywhere. even the small fried rice vendor next door has a QR code for electronic payment. I hope it will spread to the west.
Click to expand...

Like most things in the US, the process is slowed down by ongoing litigation and the desire of merchants to be paid more money to adopt the technology. They want Apple to pay for the upgrade to POS system.
 
F

FyreWulff

Member
wumster3000 said:
Never had an issue with Apple Pay. Wonder if it's something with their scanners.
Click to expand...

it gets even more fun. Some businesses had all the contactless stuff installed and working and turned it off when Apple Pay was announced because they wanted to throw a shitfit over it
 
P

phatmike128

Member
Blablurn said:
The western world is so backwards with electric payment. here in china, while apple pay is still a small market, weixin and alipay payment can be used basically everywhere. even the small fried rice vendor next door has a QR code for electronic payment. I hope it will spread to the west.
Click to expand...

I would insert USA rather than western world. Most Europe and certainly here in Australia, contactless is ubiquitous. I was shocked that I still had to swipe and sign in New York City THIS year! What the hell?! Aus is quickly catching up with person to person payments too.
 
D

Dougald

Member
Never had a problem using it in the UK at any terminal with the standard NFC symbol. I barely use an actual card any more
 
S

sprinkles

Member
phatmike128 said:
I would insert USA rather than western world. Most Europe and certainly here in Australia, contactless is ubiquitous. I was shocked that I still had to swipe and sign in New York City THIS year! What the hell?! Aus is quickly catching up with person to person payments too.
Click to expand...
Germany is behind all of those. I know lots of people who still only pay cash.
 
Dr. Zoidberg

Dr. Zoidberg

Member
Smellycat said:
I usually don't have to click anything. It should pop up automatically as soon as you hover the phone over the reader.
Click to expand...

This. I never have do do anything except place my phone near the terminal and then put my finger on the TouchID sensor. Works almost every time.
 
G

Guevara

Member
Dr. Zoidberg said:
This. I never have do do anything except place my phone near the terminal and then put my finger on the TouchID sensor. Works almost every time.
Click to expand...

Oh really? Maybe by clicking I'm actually screwing something up?

There's no feedback at all, so I'm not really sure.
 
S

SpecX

Member
Vanillalite said:
Your experience seems to be an outlier for it being that bad, but both Android and Apple Pay can be not so smooth sometimes.

Samsung Pay's voodoo is heads and shoulders above the other two.
Click to expand...
I always loved the look on the cashiers face when they would start to say that doesn't work as I'm using Samsung Pay only for them to stop mid sentence as the reader is ready for them to do their part.
 
K

Kor of Memory

Member
I use mine very regularly to the point that I have educated several staff members of mcdonalds on how to do it.

The McDonalds in our town, as well as Panera and our local Grocery store has it, and I use it pretty much every time I can. Never have a hiccup.

Double tap home button when phone is locked to activate. Scan print to authorize. After scanning your phone will stay in the ready position for about a minute. Within this minute just touch your phone to whatever sensor is available. On older readers there is a big plastic thing at the top. Newer ones the whole unit is the reader.

Your phone should ding and/or vibrate when the connection is made. The moment it does, you are finished. Roughly 30 seconds later you should get a notification at the top of your phone that says, "McDonalds has charged you $6.47"

If you don't see that message, you haven't been charged.

I'm not joking when I say I've had to teach several McDonalds employees how to do it from their end. I'll tell them Apple Pay, and then they grab their coupon scanner and hold it out the window. I have to say, "No, the card swiper. Hit the button on your screen like it's a credit card and hold that thing out the window a bit."

Sometimes they listen, and laugh about me knowing how it works. Sometimes they get pissy, grab their manager, and then their manager knows exactly who I am and laughs with me about it. (Note: I literally trained the manager on it)
 
F

Fhtagn

Member
It's worked great for me 90% of the time but soda machines are not to be trusted and often charge me for two sodas when I got one.
 
Dr. Zoidberg

Dr. Zoidberg

Member
Guevara said:
Oh really? Maybe by clicking I'm actually screwing something up?
Click to expand...

You do not need to click anything to initiate the payment. When it's time to pay, just place your phone on or very near the payment terminal. An image of your credit card will automatically appear on the screen and ask for your TouchID confirmation. Place your finger on the sensor (do not click) and authenticate. You are done.

EDIT - This is on an iPhone 6 by the way.
 
Caayn

Caayn

Member
SpecX said:
I always loved the look on the cashiers face when they would start to say that doesn't work as I'm using Samsung Pay only for them to stop mid sentence as the reader is ready for them to do their part.
Click to expand...
Don't Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, <insert other brand> Pay, contactless debit/credit cards etc. all use the same implementation for a retailer? So if one works, the other also works?
Blablurn said:
The western world is so backwards with electric payment. here in china, while apple pay is still a small market, weixin and alipay payment can be used basically everywhere. even the small fried rice vendor next door has a QR code for electronic payment. I hope it will spread to the west.
Click to expand...
You mean the USA? Here in the Netherlands contactless payment is wide spread.
 
T

The Greek Freak

Member
Kor of Memory said:
I use mine very regularly to the point that I have educated several staff members of mcdonalds on how to do it.

The McDonalds in our town, as well as Panera and our local Grocery store has it, and I use it pretty much every time I can. Never have a hiccup.

Double tap home button when phone is locked to activate. Scan print to authorize. After scanning your phone will stay in the ready position for about a minute. Within this minute just touch your phone to whatever sensor is available. On older readers there is a big plastic thing at the top. Newer ones the whole unit is the reader.

Your phone should ding and/or vibrate when the connection is made. The moment it does, you are finished. Roughly 30 seconds later you should get a notification at the top of your phone that says, "McDonalds has charged you $6.47"

If you don't see that message, you haven't been charged.

I'm not joking when I say I've had to teach several McDonalds employees how to do it from their end. I'll tell them Apple Pay, and then they grab their coupon scanner and hold it out the window. I have to say, "No, the card swiper. Hit the button on your screen like it's a credit card and hold that thing out the window a bit."

Sometimes they listen, and laugh about me knowing how it works. Sometimes they get pissy, grab their manager, and then their manager knows exactly who I am and laughs with me about it. (Note: I literally trained the manager on it)
Click to expand...

Yo, if the McD's staff all knows you....you might be eating fast food too often.

Just saying.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
I used Android pay once in a while and I've never had a problem with it... But I feel like most people at point of sale have no idea what you're doing, and if you ask if they do "Phone pay" they're usually blank. I never say "Android Pay" because nobody knows what that is. The one on the Pixel is pretty easy to use, you just unlock your phone and hold it against the reader for like a second, and then it buzzes that it's complete. I was really surprised how easy it was when I irst used it at a Chic Fila.

I like that Android gives you a notification when you enter a place that supports Android Pay. You get a little notification in your drawer... "Chic Fila supports Android Pay" or "Pay with Android at this location." I'd probably never use it otherwise. Also the places I'd like to use Android pay at, like sketchy gas stations that I'm worried will have a card skimmer or be insecure, are the ones that will never support it.

I like the security of it, but the thing is... for me to really get into a payment system, it has to be accepted everywhere or virtually everywhere. If 30-40% of businesses accept something (which I'd imagine is much hgiher than who currently accepts Android/Apple pay, maybe like 5%?), then I'm probably not going to ever bother using that system, and will just stick with the system that 95% of places accept.
 
C

corn_fest

Member
Yeah I've only been able to actually use it at like two stores. Unfortunate, because I would love to carry less plastic cards.

Guevara said:
> Plus, anytime I touch the home button now, Apple Pay pops up. Which is almost never what I want.
Click to expand...

Haha and this is infuriating. So many accidental double-taps, and then you have to single-tap (NOT double-tap again) for it to go away.
 
K

KingV

Member
The Albatross said:
I used Android pay once in a while and I've never had a problem with it... But I feel like most people at point of sale have no idea what you're doing, and if you ask if they do "Phone pay" they're usually blank. I never say "Android Pay" because nobody knows what that is. The one on the Pixel is pretty easy to use, you just unlock your phone and hold it against the reader for like a second, and then it buzzes that it's complete. I was really surprised how easy it was when I irst used it at a Chic Fila.

I like that Android gives you a notification when you enter a place that supports Android Pay. You get a little notification in your drawer... "Chic Fila supports Android Pay" or "Pay with Android at this location." I'd probably never use it otherwise. Also the places I'd like to use Android pay at, like sketchy gas stations that I'm worried will have a card skimmer or be insecure, are the ones that will never support it.

I like the security of it, but the thing is... for me to really get into a payment system, it has to be accepted everywhere or virtually everywhere. If 30-40% of businesses accept something (which I'd imagine is much hgiher than who currently accepts Android/Apple pay, maybe like 5%?), then I'm probably not going to ever bother using that system, and will just stick with the system that 95% of places accept.
Click to expand...

That's a great feature from android.
 
K

Klotera

Member
I never have issues using NFC via Android Pay or Samsung Pay (or, in a previous life, Google Wallet)

However, one little thing that can throw people off is that the transaction has to be complete and the cashier has to have hit the "total" button or whatever it is. Most people are used to being able to swipe at any time during the transaction, causing them to try tap the NFC too soon. Hell, I've had cashiers forget to hit the total button when I'm trying to use it. Now, I know to wait for the final total to show up on the screen.

The other thing is to be sure to know where your NFC chip is on your phone and where it is on the reader. If they're doing it right, the NFC symbol will be exactly where you need to hold it, but that's not always the case. A few terminals require you to hold it in a location that is not obvious.

Caayn said:
Don't Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, <insert other brand> Pay, contactless debit/credit cards etc. all use the same implementation for a retailer? So if one works, the other also works?
You mean the USA? Here in the Netherlands contactless payment is wide spread.
Click to expand...

For NFC, it is the same for all three. However, Samsung pay can additionally use MST so that it works with regular swipe terminals. That part is probably irrelevant for you since you're outside the U.S., but we still have a lot of places that only accept card swipes.
 
M

Massicot

Member
Smellycat said:
I usually don't have to click anything. It should pop up automatically as soon as you hover the phone over the reader.
Click to expand...

Same, if the kiosk is set up for contactless, my apple pay comes up automatically with my default payment option. If it doesn't, I just assume that the vendor doesn't have the capability (which they will usually say right away when they see me holding the phone to the register: "oh we don't have that set up".)

A couple years ago only a few places had the capability around me but now I can use it at the grocery store and gas station. Pretty nice.
 
Certinty

Certinty

Member
Use it several times a day all the time in London and never once had an issue. I put my phone up to the reader while holding my finger on the home button and it always works relatively quickly.
 
H

HeartlessNobody213

Member
Guevara said:
Ok that's really helpful.

I'm a idiot: Am I supposed to announce to the cashier "I would like to use Apple Pay!" or do I indicate some option on the reader itself?
Click to expand...
Nope. I just double tap my iPhone, let it read my fingerprint and hold it to the terminal.

I've never announced I was going to use it.

The thing is, in the U.S there are plenty of places that have the capability to accept NFC payments but refuse to do so.
 
K

kukubrew

Member
I don't run into it being available very often in Michigan. I use it at Panera without a problem though.

I actually forgot my wallet in the car one time, picking stuff up from Panera I paid with my Apple Watch. The girl at the register was amazed :)

Wish it was available more places.
 
K

Kaze Kyou

Member
As soon as my bank announced support for Apple Pay, I set it on my iPhone 6 and Apple Watch straight away. Never looked back since.

I still keep a backup wallet around me with a small amount of cash, but contactless has been my go-to method these past few years. We've had cashless cards for ages here in Australia already, but it's always fun to see waiters & waitresses boggle their eyes when I put the phone or watch near the terminal. :p

If you're still having problems, it's most likely the vendor's terminals. Everything's been smooth for me.
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
Blablurn said:
The western world is so backwards with electric payment. here in china, while apple pay is still a small market, weixin and alipay payment can be used basically everywhere. even the small fried rice vendor next door has a QR code for electronic payment. I hope it will spread to the west.
Click to expand...

You mean America. The Netherlands is doing just fine, I can pay contactless literally anywhere I want.
 
Duane Cunningham

Duane Cunningham

Member
Guevara said:
Ok that's really helpful.

I'm a idiot: Am I supposed to announce to the cashier "I would like to use Apple Pay!" or do I indicate some option on the reader itself?
Click to expand...

In my experience, no, when it gets to the part where the card reader is ready for the card, you can just do that instead.

There's one convenience store chain here where I always use it (Quiktrip - the best in the Midwest, kinda the way Wawa is in Philly, or 7/11 is wherever they're good). It's SO smooth there.

Then there's the grocery store I go to, which is kinda hit or miss. I think they have some old equipment that needs to be reset sometimes or something, and the cashiers don't know anything about it.

McDonalds around here finally works every time (and again, I think they might have gotten better gear recently). Starbucks in my area added it a while back and it always works (although I usually use their app instead for the rewards).

So basically, if the place you're trying to use it has junky old tech (but claims to use Apple Pay), your success rate will be a bit more spotty than if they're current. But it's a lot better than it was a year or two ago for sure. Curse of the early adopter, I guess.
 
P

Piers

Member
The NFC can occasionally be finicky for me, especially with London Underground gates. Put the phone too close or too far and the gate will error, which then holds up rushing passengers from behind.
 
F

FyreWulff

Member
The Albatross said:
I used Android pay once in a while and I've never had a problem with it... But I feel like most people at point of sale have no idea what you're doing, and if you ask if they do "Phone pay" they're usually blank. I never say "Android Pay" because nobody knows what that is. The one on the Pixel is pretty easy to use, you just unlock your phone and hold it against the reader for like a second, and then it buzzes that it's complete. I was really surprised how easy it was when I irst used it at a Chic Fila.

I like that Android gives you a notification when you enter a place that supports Android Pay. You get a little notification in your drawer... "Chic Fila supports Android Pay" or "Pay with Android at this location." I'd probably never use it otherwise. Also the places I'd like to use Android pay at, like sketchy gas stations that I'm worried will have a card skimmer or be insecure, are the ones that will never support it.

I like the security of it, but the thing is... for me to really get into a payment system, it has to be accepted everywhere or virtually everywhere. If 30-40% of businesses accept something (which I'd imagine is much hgiher than who currently accepts Android/Apple pay, maybe like 5%?), then I'm probably not going to ever bother using that system, and will just stick with the system that 95% of places accept.
Click to expand...

Like I said before. It should have been standard by now between Android Pay and Apple Pay, but the retailers colluded and stonewalled it and tried their stupid CurrentC where you had to scan a QR code.
 
H

hockeypuck

Member
What I do is double tap the home button with my middle or ring finger, that isn't stored as Apple ID. The wallet app will always show up that way for me, and then I can use my thumbprint.

Downside is that I do have to use both hands for this method.
 
S

see5harp

Member
Apple pay is, by far, the easiest method to pay, especially with all of the chip readers. You gotta be a complete idiot to not be able to put your phone next to the card swiper. That's literally all it is and you immediately get a notification that you've been charged so there is no confusion.
 
B

BTails

Member
Contactless payments are EXTREMELY common in Canada now, so I never have an issue paying with Apple Pay. I use my watch to do so, and it works 99% of the time. That being said, when a cashier asks how I want to pay, I usually just say "Visa", since that's the CC I've added to my digital wallet. I'm sure if I told most cashiers that I wanted to use Apple Pay, they'd be pretty confused.
 
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