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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?
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.
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.
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.
I've also had good experience with Apple Pay as an apple device user.
The whole saga of contactless payments reminds me of the emergence of the smartphone market. At first there were a lot of players, but what sticks out the most is the carriers tried their hardest to wedge themselves in as the payment provider. They REALLY wanted to to be in the loop - going as far as to disable or block contactless payment hardware on android phones they sold to their customers.
Then Apple comes along and suddenly they're the first vendor to grab traction.
With smartphones, Apple was the provider of the phone and software and forbade carrier tampering and modification with software. Apple phone, Apple experience.
They did the same thing with payments. Apple payments, apple experience. Carrier is not invited to the party.
Know why it worked?
Carriers are fucking terrible. Customers hate them. They always over-charge and screw everything up. Like hell a consumer is going to trust their phone carrier with a payment system!