Apple Pay Photo

Apple Pay Initial Impressions: Good, but No Plastic Killer (Yet)

October 24, 2024         By: Michael Foster

Apple Pay is out and a lot of buzz about the service is hitting the internet, but the consensus is clear: it’s good, but you still need your credit cards.

Setting up Apple Pay takes little time. You input your credit card information (or choose to use the card registered to your iTunes account), confirm, and then it’s ready. You can even take a picture of your credit card and let your phone fill in the card details for you. The whole process is secure.

Of course, you’ll need an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus and you’ll need to download and update to iOS 8.1.

Apple Pay also works with the new iPads, but only for in-app transactions, which are also possible with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. In-app transactions are easy, and authorized with a fingerprint. Now buying stuff in apps that accept Apple Pay is as easy as buying stuff from Apple through the App Store. For now, this is the best part of Apple Pay.

But with in-store transactions, two problems arise:

1. Not all banks accept it.

While most do, some banks have restricted their cards from working with Apple Pay. Other banks allow customers to use some cards with the service, but not others. Generally prepaid credit cards will not work with Apple Pay, and corporate cards won’t work either.

2. Not all merchants accept it.

Apple has announced that over 200,000 terminals will accept Apple Pay. While that sounds like a lot, it’s actually a microscopic fraction of the millions of cash registers in the country. Early adopters have already found that the places they can use Apple Pay are few and far between, while some use-cases necessitate a signature or entering a pin, and there’s the troubling issue of some users being charged twice (or even three times) for purchases.

In short, you’ll need to bring your credit cards with you even if you register for Apple Pay and keep your iPhone 6 with you at all times. The only way to keep your credit card home is to make sure that every store you go to during the day offers Apple Pay (and hope their point of sale systems are NFC-enabled)—in other words, you’ll need to rearrange your life to fit your payment service.

Or, you know, use cash.