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Slashdot Asks: Which Mobile Payment Service Is Best For You? (qz.com)
Everyone has a smartphone these days, therefore everyone should have access to at least one mobile payment service -- Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay. Personally, I've only used Apple Pay a handful of times because the vast majority of stores I visit don't support it. For me, the biggest problem with mobile payment services like Apple Pay and Google Pay isn't the potential security concerns or inconveniences (having to pull my phone out of my pocket or requiring the merchant to pull out an NFC reader while in a drive-thru) -- it's the lack of compatibility. I want to be able to leave my wallet at home and do all of my shopping with my phone, which is not possible due to the lack of support at most retailers. With that said, the support is improving. Today, Apple announced that Apple Pay is now available at 74 of the top 100 U.S. retailers. Quartz reports: Today (Jan. 22), Apple announced that it has also signed up Taco Bell and Target -- two years ago, Target said it had no plans to adopt Apple Pay -- meaning that 74 of the top 100 U.S. retailers by revenue now accept Apple's digital payment. The company added pharmacy chain CVS, along with 7-Eleven, late last year. They joined other major US retailers that include Best Buy, Starbucks, McDonald's, Walgreens, Costco, and Kohl's. (Some of the biggest holdouts: Walmart and Home Depot.) Do you use mobile payment services? Which service(s) do you use and why?
It's all i use.
I've only ever failed to use it once throughout all of my experiences, and that's because the pinpad was misconfigured to accept tap even though there was no backend service (it was a small dollar store that doesn't exist anymore)
I run my life with a brain, not with a smartphone. I have one, but do not carry it: my employer requires it for 2fa.
Maybe people elsewhere are using these companies products, but the main mobile payment options I regularly see people using are Bitcoin and Dash and a little zen and Bitcoin Cash.
That shit doesn't work?
Isn't Apple / Google / Samsung pay ubiquitous over there?
In Aus even our own banks offer their own apps on devices with NFC in case you don't want to use apple / google / samsung, and they work *everywhere*. Everyone pays on card these days because it's free.
What's the hold up with the deployment?
Hang on, you guys don't even have chip and pin everywhere yet do you...
Curiosity was framed; ignorance killed the cat. -- Author unknown
If you aren't a drone in the Bay, it's pretty much six and a half dozen between the services and a crad, they function the same. In my area, mobile payments are all but non-existent (in fact, people use actual cash more frequently). Get out of the bubble.
In the UK, virtually everywhere accepts Apple Pay- in some smaller shops maybe with a minimum payment of £10. Even in outdoor markets stalls, many will accept them. Plus you can use it on public transport anywhere in London.
Those fleas have sucked enough of my personal data. They already know (or can guess) where I shop. They don't need specifics.
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According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
I think the question seems a little strange as if you have an iPhone you'd be using Apple Pay, otherwise some Google variant.
But personally I really like Apple Pay, because it's easy to set up, use, and I feel is really secure.
Great news too is that soon (if not now?) ApplePay support is coming to Target and some other places - Target was one of the last big holdouts of places I go.
Note that Target will also finally be supporting Google Pay and Android Pay as well, so we ALL win here!!
Another thing I will say in favoritisms of Apple Pay is that Apple Pay over the web works really well and I use it if at all possible (it uses your device to authorize payment).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Everyone has a smartphone these days
Speak for yourself. I use a flip phone.
Which Mobile Payment Service Is Best For You?
It's called cash. It goes with me, so it's perfectly mobile. But it doesn't allow big corp to gather data on my every purchase and use it to their own advantages.
You can't even call the bank to cancel your cards
What does mobile payments provide to me that cash or card does not?
Don't leave home without it.
No tracking and profiling by data greedy corporations, no transaction fees, no "oops our card reader just malfunctions", and most importantly: I can give and take cash to/from whoever I want, without some corporation deciding if that person or me are deemed worthy their services.
Not everyone has a smartphone. I don't. Don't want one either.
Assuming you have a Samsung phone, Samsung Pay really is the best because it can work with all card readers. If Samsung were smart, they'd license it to both Apple and Google. Still, there are a few places (looking at you, Walmart) where Samsung Pay is disabled.
I use Samsung Pay because it's convenient. It actually seems more secure than using a physical card too.
Depending on what I am buying, either cash or my credit card.
Period.
No fucking way in hell I'm giving any of those assholes my banking information, and no way in hell I'm tying that shit to a fucking phone.
I don't trust the companies, I don't trust the apps, and I don't trust the technology.
Screw mobile payments, I don't need your pointless digital shit when there are much more secure banking solutions out there. Banks are regulated, Apple and Google and Samsung, not so much.
I've never understood why people are so quick to use these things.
I first heard of this when I was living up in Vancouver, BC.
It's called Cash.
You take these things called "dollars" (some of which are coins, called "Loonies" and "Toonies") and you give them to money to pay for things.
They're really expensive, I think you have to pay nothing to get them.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Isn't Apple / Google / Samsung pay ubiquitous over there?
No, in part because there was a consortium of companies (including Target and CVS) that wanted to promote some completely different standard... so NFC readers are slower to work down into retail than they should have been.
That side effort utterly failed...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay.
They're all compatible with VISA Paywave terminals aren't they?
Unless it's an online purchase, good old-fashioned, cold, hard cash. If I like my privacy, I can keep it :)
The link for the security concerns doesn’t really apply to Apple Pay.
And for the most part it is more secure then you credit card or a chip card. Because Apple Pay normally requires a form of authentication. Passkey or more common biometrics.
In terms of compatibility you don’t look for the Apple Pay logo you look for the fact the card reader accepts proximity cards.
I am able to do my Saturday chores which include. Gas, Petstore, and grocery store all with My phone. I carry my wallet mostly because that is where my license is, and for the occasional once a year failure in the readers.
No I live in a rural area and do my shopping in a small town and there is rather good compatibility with it.
I normally will have my phone ready to look at. So it is easier to pull out then a wallet.
In short I found Apple Pay more convenient and safer then the alternatives.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
It's totally emosewa.
I don't know how they managed to do this yet the payment "app" actually still works even when battery on your phone runs dead or you *gasp* decided not to bring it with you.
The full value of each transaction is always transferred to the intended party without value needlessly being diverted to coffers of money changers.
Also transactions are inherently untraceable. If I buy something the seller can't use HSAC payment app to fingerprint me or otherwise obtain my identity so they can constantly harass me to buy more shit from them.
None of them are good for YOU.
They're just another tool to turn you and your life into saleable product, and to skim a percentage from every single thing you buy.
Now that that question has been answered, we can move onto something far more useful and interesting:
Every employer has given free cyanide candy to every employee over 50. Which flavour is best for you, and which colour is prettiest?
That isn't the "most important thing".
A wallet is a separate item from your phone. Suppose you use phone payment for everything, have no wallet, and you lose your phone. Now you're doubly screwed, aren't you?
The scenario of being robbed of both your phone and your wallet does not invalidate this concern either.
The credit card. Forever thinner than your phone will ever be. Don't have to worry if its charged. Won't cost you hundreds to replace if its bent too much. Easier to operate.
I used to like Square. Free readers, reasonable fees, useful e-mails. For a little while they were all the rage with dealers at conventions.
Then they got what I call the open source attitude. That's where they put you on an update treadmill and take away features like crazy because they think they know what's best for you. It's a really simple app with a simple protocol and it's just ridiculous they they cut off compatibility with Android and web browsers for no reason. Can't use my perfectly good Motorola tablet anymore. Can't use IE (among other makes and models) because they fucked up a form with half a dozen fields on it with some JScript abortion. Can't use Windows to integrate it into a platform I can actually program for because they only support Android and iPhone.
Can't even work in the sandbox without buying an SSL certificate now either.
It's irritating. I have the API documentation. It's JSON and it hasn't really changed in 5-6 years. But I suddenly can't use the damned thing because the core part of it, charging a fucking card, is locked up in a proprietary app that won't run on my hardware or a web form that won't run on my browser. Yet they bombard me constantly with spam about their stupid SDKs that reinvent the wheel over and over and over.
And the worst part? It's like they're all like that. PayPal, Stripe, Intuit, all of them have the same problems. Why can't I get something that just works and doesn't need to be babysat like Indian shovelware?
Payments don't get much more mobile than good old polymer bills. Accepted at brick-and-mortar merchants everywhere, even when the digital network is compromised.
I don't do financial transactions of any sort on my phone or tablet. The OS isn't safe (doesn't matter which OS it is). Look up any security conference video in the last 5 yrs where they show local and remote hacks against all the main phone OSes.
Why do people agree to pay 3.5% extra for everything they buy? It is like an illegal protection scam. The fact that in some states it is illegal to charge more for "credit" transactions shows how deep it goes.
Yet, if I want to pay a parking fine online, the govt is ok with a "service fee" for my convenience and makes it hard to pay with cash or check.
Canada had lightning-quick NFC-enabled tap-to-pay terminals everywhere (via Interac) well before Apple Pay was even launched. Soon as the Canadian banks struck their deals with Apple, one could use Apple Pay everywhere you could use Interac.
I don't keep access to my money on my phone.
The security of hardware-tokenized smartphone payment systems is in the hardware, not the operating system. Software gets a one-time-use token, not your credit card number.
And why should I care that I'm being "tracked," meaning that advertisers are given data on how many people shop for pineapples on Tuesdays at my local market? Knowing who shops for what has been the age-old concern of every commercial trader forever.
A thousand dollar purchase takes $1000 in cash today or I can charge it and pay my credit card company $985 in about 40 days. Being financially optimal means using a credit card - either directly or via *Pay e.g. Apple Pay. IMO, Apple Pay.is [slightly] better since the merchant does not get your credit card number, just a one-time token. So I don't care if the merchant gets hacked like Target or lots of others.
No, none, and cuz it is a fucking stupid asinine idea.
I generally have only the phone, no cards or cash on me. Since PayWave (a contact-less payment PoS) is supported by next to all terminals I very very rarely run into issues. From what I know plenty of people do the same -- phone only is enough for pretty much everything.
Yes we have Uniform Payments Interface(UPI) supported by google also. All wallets are interoperable and apps dont need to know bank or card details. It is linked by mobile number ro virtual payment address (VPA) which is like a email address. No need od merchant device. Just a QR stuck on cart vendor's wall. Google it up.
A technology already in use in India ny steet vendors to corporations
Screw this mobile payment crap. It's all in the category of "don't want it" and certainly don't want any more invasive tracking.
I don't really understand the point of these services. Why not just use your contactless card?
I live in Australia where contactless terminals at point of sale are 90+% of the market - I literally nearly made it though 2018 without taking out a card to pay for anything (including interstate travel). My toaster died, and the store I went to buy a new one from didnâ(TM)t take contactless payment.
The thing that differentiates Apple Pay from all the other EMVCo v3 contactless payment solutions, is Apple is asserting they dontâ(TM) data mine the transactions ( and everything externally verifiable indicates they donâ(TM)t) nor do they sell to data brokers.
Can charge and spend anonymously at Point of Sales, no fees. Lose card if keep receipt and have serial number can recover unspent charges for about $10 new card fee. Not sure if possible to use for internet shopping but there are other POSA charge options from Apple and Amazon with a little extra code management by email. Ok for small purchases. Amazon gets the real credit card due to broadest capability.
Samsung Pay lets you pay at most any terminal where you can swipe a credit card. The trick comes thanks to "Magnetic Secure Transmission," or MST; it's built into the most of the Samsung phones (Galaxy Note 5 and above). As with other mobile wallets, Samsung Pay can also let you pay with NFC. So basically between MST and NFC my Samsung S7 has worked just about everywhere except gas stations and ATMs. I have had people tell me it won't work because other people have tried, and when I use my Samsung and it works they are so surprised. I guess they just assume everyone is using Apple Pay.
Just get a phone sleeve with a pocket for contactless credit or bank card. Still works even if the battery is dead. Compatible with most point-of-sale readers.
Most of the time I don't even take my candybar featurephone with me.
Cash is perfectly mobile and doesn't require a three figure "wallet" dependent on frequent updating, regular hardware replacement, rotten and possibly infected software, and all sorts of third parties to function. Oh, and I don't need to keep my leather wallet charged either. A little regular leather maintenance every couple months does make the thing last longer. I've had this one over ten years. Yes, that's phone and wallet both.
I have a wallet cover for my phone and my credit card is in it. The card allows contact-less payments so I just swipe my wallet-phone at the terminal and I walk if it's below 25€, if above I enter my pin.
I don't have to open the wallet and it works even if the phone is dead.
The best option for everyone would be an open source app app that uses an open standard protocol to talk directly to my bank with no information leakage to any middlemen. Why does this not exist? As it currently stands, my Android phone won't let me use Google Pay without using stock firmware and a locked bootloader due to that damn SafetyNet check. I know why SafetyNet exists, but I really don't see the difference between having to tell my bank that my token has been stolen and used for fraud versus my physical card being stolen and used for fraud.
As a long time Apple Pay user, I am a bit confused : as soon as Apple Pay had been supported by my credit card provider, and configured my iPhone and it worked at once on any terminal supporting NFC.
And not only did it work in my country (Switzerland), it worked all over Europe, including in countries where Apple Pay was NOT available. Hence, my understanding is that terminals don't explicitly need to support Apple Pay, they need to support NFC. Apple is should be transparent to the terminal.
Is it different in the USA ?
In Australia we use contactless card payments and mobile tap and go everywhere, even for the smallest transactions. We have real time bank transfers too
Good citizens pay 1.5% fee on everything they do, notice the banks and all the government agencies about each and every little purchase, naively assuming that Big Data doesn't exist and algorithms cannot comb through a billion datasets in very few seconds.
Privacy, cash, anonymity is for terrorists and criminals. Nobody would target someone, especially not a kid from rural Kentucky, for smiling and supporting a political idea and target them for life.
Just pretend the banks and the government agencies and all their employees are more trustworthy than most of your best friends. Now and forever and during the next fifteen administrations. Give everyone all your data, never hide anything ever anywhere for any reason.
. . . runs on a device smaller than a phone.
I use a debit card with a chip. Why bother with a big bulky phone? It may be out of power, preventing payment. Especially in freezing weather.
The debit card is small, lightweight, more mobile and powered by the card reader. The smartphone is for maps so I get there - and of course phoning. Might leave it in the car when I go shopping.
Here in Ireland I find that I can use Google Pay in the vast majority of places. Basically anywhere that accepts tap with a credit card will also accept Google Pay and Apple Pay (I don't know about Samsung Pay, but I don't know of any bank offering that on their cards).
The compatibility here seems to be whether the banks offer it, not whether the shops accept it.
I only know of 2 shops where I haven't been able to use it: IKEA, which only accepts payments up to 30 Euro with tap of any kind, and a local hardware store that has a problem accepting various types of credit cards for tap too.
Otherwise I rarely take my wallet from my pocket. I just about always have my phone, and if I don't have my phone for some reason I'll likely have my watch on me.
Apple Pay? Google Pay? Samsung Pay? Are they your banks?
Android's NFC API directly interfaces with payment software. Why would you put yet another 3rd party in between you and your banking app?
So what service do I use? The Wallet app provided by my bank. Works anywhere my card does, has independent limits and security handled by my bank.
#TL;DR
Samsung Pay because it uses superior, patented technology. (https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160180120A1/en)
I created an account just to post this info :)
I thought they were all pretty worthless because, as already stated, not many places accepted forms of payment, but I changed my opinion after owning the Samsung Galaxy S8+ for less than a week. A friend and I were hanging out and took a drive. We visited some remote-ish place that sold nuts, pies, and some country style Knick Knacks. We both had grabbed a few things and went to the registers; I realized that I did not have my wallet on me, BUT I did have my new phone, on which I had recently configured Samsung Pay. Now the check-out area had old computers, and whatever was running on those computers was using the magnetic reader built into keyboards for credit card transactions (reference: http://www.semicron.com/versak...). I told the lady that I forgot my wallet and asked if I might try my phone. She told me a couple of times, "Honey, we're not setup for that," but I politely requested to just give it a TRY, expecting it not work either...
It worked. We were both shocked and happy, and she started calling her co-workers over to tell them what had just happened. End of story; thanks for reading :)
FYI (this is copy/pasted from a Google cached page, as the Samsung link did not seem to work):
What is MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission)?
Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) is a technology that emits a magnetic signal that mimics the magnetic strip on a traditional payment card. MST sends a magnetic signal from your device to the payment terminal's card reader (to emulate swiping a physical card without having to upgrade the terminal’s software or hardware). MST technology is accepted at nearly all payment terminals with a card reader. Some payment terminals may require software updates. Simply select a card from Samsung Pay, and transmit the payment information by moving your device within an inch of the payment terminal. Your transaction and payment information will be kept private and secure with the use of tokenization. MST is more secure than using a traditional payment card and is as secure as paying with Near Field Communication (NFC).
I am surprised no one has mentioned that Samsung pay has a huge tech advantage in that it can emulate a magnetic credit card swipe amd works just fine with old readers that don't support any of the new payment options. This makes it easy in that you know it just works.
I'm in Canada and for ~2 years now I pay everywhere with my phone... first it was with my zenfone2 and now my nokia, anyway before that I tapped my card on the paypass terminal.
I pay with my phone for my gas, various groceries, various generic noname dollar store, fruit/vegetable corner store, canadian tire, dollarama, costco, etc, everywhere!
The 2 only stores I found in 2 years that do not accept NFC payment are: Walmart, Michaels.
Also I often go in the USA, last time I paid with my phone in a CVS, the cashier was speechless and didn't understand what happenend. When I wanted to pay with my phone in a Pizza Hut, the waitress had to ask the manager if they accept it and how to do it (yes, it worked), same thing in big lots or family dollar, the cashier did an instant barbarian move when I paid with my phone... but everywhere in the world people are doing this!!!
Also in the USA they still use magnetic strips, but worst of it, when I pay with my chip or my phone, they hand me a paper to sign, it's stupid, I just entered my PIN code on the terminal and I have to sign?!?
Excuse me OP but technologies in the US is wwwaaaayyyyy back compared to the rest of the world.
Also last time I checked Android/Samsung pay is free for the stores, but ApplePay wants 0.5% of the transaction, maybe this is why stores refuse apple pay.
"Science will win because it works." - Stephen Hawking
I still use cash for a lot of purchases, because of privacy concerns. Cash means little or no personal data is collected at the point of purchase. Reward programs, credit cards, debit cards, phone aps, etc. are convenient, but, the trade-off is loss of privacy. Not knowing who may have access to the data from a point-of-sale transaction is disconcerting. Is my purchase of an item legal in country A going to bite me in the ass if I travel to country B, where the same product is illegal? That concern may be paranoia today, but, will likely be reality tomorrow. Further, my personal financial data apparently has monetary value. Why don't I get something (a discount for example) for handing it over at the Point of Sale?
What a stupid assumption.
The solution to lack of compatibility is to use Apple Pay and Google Pay everywhere you can.
If those services are successful, then more retailers will support them.
No mobile pay.... why give them even more data about yourself?
No mobile pay. Take my cash. You'll take my cash and like it. No I don't want a rewards card. No I don't want to give you my phone # or email for an e-receipt.
A person, not a touchscreen, will take my money and print me a receipt. Thank you.
Question is fairly USA-centric.
Elsewhere banks introduce their own payment systems (working within the country), apparently to avoid paying fees for Visa/Mastercard/Google/Apple/Paypal processing.
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Mobile payments are a solution in search of a problem. I tried Google pay once for the novelty, and never used it again.
- Necron69
Everyone has a smartphone these days, therefore everyone should have access to at least one mobile payment service -- Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay.
Nope. My Android phone doesn't have NFC.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
FFS Slash.
If you're going to pimp your user base at least make it interesting?
I like _how_ Apple Pay ( ApplePay.com) works without exchanging user data.
I like Apple products
I like Apple core technologies, API's and services.
I do NOT like Apple Pay dropping email bombs with each purchase ( as if they've brokered the receipt too). Apple Pay by definition is a payment platform. AAPL hasn't figured that part out yet. They would do well to spend big on bolting on a backend vendor to their Apple Pay technology. The leverage would yield EFT (i.e. BillPay, CheckPay), deposit and transfers. Beyond piggybacking on a payments platform AAPL would be in the business of transactions processing carrying the water for credit card companies.
I do NOT need another vendor in my wallet, thank you. Apple Pay is just another vendor in different form factor. AAPL will need to earn its place in my transactional history besides piggyback on POS terminals.
As long as they support tap on their terminals, they support it because there is no difference.
That's not exactly right - due to the whole consortium that kept Target from using ApplePay, some vendors that had tap to pay systems explicitly blocked ApplePay. I encountered it a few times (not the case anymore).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
As an American living and working in China, WeChat Pay and AliPay are daily necessities. In fact, I haven't left the house in almost a year with my wallet, like most of the locals. Peer-to-peer, and every other place you could conceivably use cash, is all electronic. Don't get me wrong, there are drawbacks to the country overall, but the one, and probably only, advantage over the rest of the world is the cashless society and high technology adoption rates. Even 85+ year old chain smoking baiju drinking men use wechat to settle their street gambling debts.
"Everyone has a smartphone these days, therefore everyone should have access to at least one mobile payment service"
nope, i don't trust mobile payments at all and think nobody should be using them.
they're running on an always connected device, known to have security issues because there are no updates anymore, loaded with apps that spy on you in the best case and drop malware and other unpleasantires in the worst case.
tell me again why i would want to do anything money related on such a platform.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.