We learned this week that Apple Pay has reached a new milestone with 2 million locations accepting the iPhone and Apple Watch-based mobile wallet. This an impressive climb for the service that launched with just over 220,000 locations on board in fall 2014, but what does it look like in everyday use and what’s next for Apple Pay?
For me personally, the Apple Pay rollout was pretty smooth starting in October 2014. I already had an iPhone 6 so I updated the software that turned on Apple Pay and was able to add my debit card. Luckily I already banked with one of the handful of major partners signed up so I could start paying with my iPhone from day one; Apple has since added nearly 1,000 banks and credit unions.
I was also impressed at the number of businesses ready for Apple Pay from day one. I live in a Gulf Coast town in South Mississippi with a population of roughly 18,000 people — it’s not exactly the center of Silicon Valley — and I was able to spot four Apple Pay businesses on day one: McDonalds, Walgreens, Subway, and a local drug storage with contactless-ready terminals.
Now that we’re into year two of Apple Pay, the list of businesses in my own town has expanded.
I wrote a year ago about the awkwardness of using Apple Pay versus swiping a card when it attracts attention or fails, but I’ve had few experiences like those I detailed in the year since.
Walgreens adding their rewards card to Apple Pay has actually made checkout smoother than before. Previously you’d have to type in your phone number or scan a QR barcode from your card or phone. Now it works by waving your iPhone or Apple Watch near the terminal. (You do a separate wave to process your payment; these two steps could be combined, but Walgreens opts for two steps.)
My local grocery store chain updated their payment terminals to accept contactless payments including Apple Pay (but they warn you not to use the chip reader!) so I shop there much more often instead of going to the town over for Walmart which still isn’t on board.
And when I snuck out of the house to pickup breakfast for my wife and myself a few weekends ago only to learn my car battery needed a jump, discovering that I could pay for the battery cables at the local Advanced Auto Parts with Apple Pay turned a rather sour experience into a positive one for me.
A couple of towns over, I’ve used Apple Pay to checkout at both Best Buy and GameStop (and probably RadioShack before they disappeared).
I’m not seeing a rapid increase in adoption in every day business just yet — I’m still swiping my debit card way more than I’d like — but there’s noticeable movement here. Square’s new Apple Pay reader for small businesses should certainly help, too, as the mobile credit card readers are already popular at local cafes, bakeries, and festivals.
Other Apple Pay experiences are still mixed. Target and Starbucks both let me use Apple Pay within their iOS apps to place orders, but I still can’t pay in their stores with Apple Pay. That’s already changed for Starbucks at some locations, however, and Target‘s CEO has expressed desire to support Apple Pay in stores following the last holiday season.
Then there’s the car. I probably wasted way too much gas during Apple Pay’s first week just driving around hunting gas stations that accepted contactless payment methods at the pump (I know, move outside of the U.S. and this is everywhere). Even as new gas stations seemingly pop up regularly, payment terminals at the pump still aren’t a thing around me.
Chevron announced plans to integrate Apple Pay into its pumps last year and has at least a few locations already up, but I don’t happen to live near any. Apple CEO Tim Cook shared that Apple Pay was also coming to Exxon Mobil stations soon, but as an in-app payment method with the Speedpass+ app. We may be all driving (or riding in self-driving) electric Apple Cars before Apple Pay reaches most U.S. gas stations.
Taxis, Uber, and Lyft aren’t really a thing where I live, either, but I’ve used Apple Pay when hitching a ride in various big cities over the last year. Uber and Lyft both let you use Apple Pay in their apps (although Uber’s Apple Watch app is limited without storing a debit card), but I actually prefer paying in cabs with contactless payment terminals. The problem is you can’t always tell which cabs accept Apple Pay, but it does feel cool when they do.
My colleague Benjamin Mayo and I agree on one thing with Apple Pay: the experience is absolutely best at self-checkout terminals. (Well, and anytime I accidentally leave the house without my wallet.) There’s no delay in explaining Apple Pay to cashiers, saying yes, that’s an Apple Watch, or any other awkwardness. I used Apple Pay at the Winn-Dixie grocery store self-checkout line a few towns over before, and the experience is just great.
We’re already deep into Apple Pay’s second year and there appears to be new feature and innovations on the horizon.
Apple’s rumored to be working on a peer-to-peer payment feature that would let you send friends and family cash using Apple Pay, and ATMs are adding NFC readers that will let you withdraw actual cash using your iPhone or Apple Watch in place of a debit card.
Apple’s also continuously adding new banks and credit union partners, which means more and more people are able to use Apple Pay (I’m considering dropping one bank account that I’ve had for years because the bank still isn’t on board). And the iPhone 5se that we’re expecting to see next month will bring Apple Pay to the 4-inch form factor for the first time.
In addition to the 2 million number we learned this week, Tim Cook shared last week that there are 5 million contactless-pay ready terminals in the countries where Apple Pay is available. Speaking of which, Apple Pay has only expanded outside of the U.S. to the U.K. (and Australia plus Canada for American Express cardholders). China’s huge and being planned next,
But it’s clear that the one thing readers (including myself) want to see most from Apple Pay is more places to use it. Okay, that and Apple Pay at drive-throughs of fast food chains that accept Apple Pay.
The move to debit and credit cards with chips and terminals that accept them in the U.S. has been a helpful factor, but there’s plenty of progress left to be made. The funny thing here is that contactless payment terminals are more popular in countries without Apple Pay yet.
So that’s been my Apple Pay experience from launch day to now. Time to go buy some milk with my iPhone.
How has Apple Pay changed for you and what do you want to see in the future? Let us know in the comments.
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Apple Pay is one of the best features Apple have ever included. For me it has all the hall makes of when some clever person thought it would be a good idea to put a camera in a phone. Truly revolutionary.
I live in the UK so where ever there is a contactless point (pretty much everywhere) I use my watch or phone. It is absolutely brilliant.
When the watch was launched I read people’s
Moans about not having a ‘killer app’. I think those people missed off the Apple Pay feature.
The only upgrade if ask for is activating it one handed. Maybe a double spin or a flick. Sometimes when I’m in the shop I can have my hands full so double tapping with my other hand can be a pain.
First world problem
Payments was the number 1 feature I bought the watch for and I m enjoying it fully. Its a delight when it just works and the person behind the cash counter goes “wowww…..very cool”
It is not the killer feature because it is only available on 2 or 3 countries out of dozens (or 100+ in the case of the phone) where the watch is officially sold.
Like maps, news, siri, transit or spotlight, ApplePay is just a nonexistent (or crippled) feature for many users worldwide. Practically a rumor. And until Apple decides to put some real energy on the feature and pushes for a worldwide release, it will never be anything more than a “cool” feature, instead of an essential one. I mean, people in some places in the US still have problems finding Apple pay accepted businesses. Come on!
The UK have had contactless payment years before Apple Pay came along — a lot of debit and credit cards had the feature BUT people never really adopted it…partly because they werent sure what it was, and partly because they just felt more secure putting in a pin…
Apple Pay is actually technology that is very old — those who love in london have been using oyster cards for touch pay on public transport and certain shops a long time before Apple Pay…
Head over to asia where essentially Apple ‘stole’ the tech from and you will find they have been using it for almost 20 years…lol.
The way it used to work was a basic chip in the phone that would add the cost to your monthly phone bill — it was used for small payments at convenience stores, some restaurants, and the subway… but then in japan IC cards took off — the main one is suica – which you can put in your phone case, or wallet, and it will still work — touch and go at 95% of all stations, all convenience stores, and many other locations…
It was then opened up to all other smartphones made for japan…
So while most other phones and cards all play nice – Apple is struggling to convince japan to install an apple specific reader in all those locations that already have a ready that works with most of the current tech…
Apples NFC chip is practically the same as all the others — there is no real reason why apple couldnt allow their devices to work with other readers… so until they do, most countries and a lot of companies, wont be on boards..
And a partial roll out in a few countries in a few major cities, with a few scattered into small cities — i wouldnt say this is a success or a key feature… it is a wasted feature and apple are going about it all wrong.
Totally missing the point, Its way more secure than any other NFC process…
I live in Japan. Your cards are registered to you.
If you loose it, you report it missing, the balance is transferred to a new card and the old card deleted from the system.
If someone uses it, the location is logged.
The only added security Apple Pay gas is that you have to mess around choosing a card and using your finger.
So it may have extra security in that sense, but it’s more if a hassle compared to other IC cards etc.
Canadian here. Still waiting for Canadian banks to get on board, as I’m not willing to get an Amex card just for Apple Pay (also, though it has improved, Amex is not accepted in nearly as many stores as MC/Visa/debit).
Contactless payments are already accepted virtually everywhere here, so it’s not like we would be waiting after business to get on board, like what’s happening in the U.S. It’s simply a question of Apple reaching a deal with the banks. There are only 6 major banks here, and once these are supported, you’ll be able to reach a majority of Canada’s population. So every time I see articles about 50+ banks/credit unions joining Apple Pay in the U.S. every month, I get really sad they can’t get just these 6 on board in Canada…
To be honest I was really psyched about it when they announced ApplePay. I liked the convenience, the security, the coolness. I couldn’t wait for it to come to Canada. But, you know the longer it goes with it not being here (agreed, AmEx doesnèt count.) the less interested I find I am in using it. The bloom, the excitement, the novelty, is fading. Someday it will reach Vancouver Island but by then we’ll see if I even try it.
Unless Apple are trying to scoop more money from the Canadian banks than they do in the US, UK and other countries, I don’t think the problem in Canada is Apple. The banks are just too greedy. They want us to wait for them to develop their own contactless payment systems (last I heard, there were two in development).
Canada needs a reasonable sized financial institution that supports Visa and/or Mastercard to step up to the plate and sign on with ApplePay. (And like the others have said, Amex does not cut it. Amex charges the retailers a huge amount more than do Visa and Mastercard, so it’s no wonder retailers don’t want to accept it). I’d sign on in order to get ApplePay and in the process ditch the major bank I currently use for being so arrogant and greedy.
However, I’m not sure how much Visa and Mastercard in Canada are tied in with the “made in Canada” solution – so it may be that no one could offer ApplePay for the two most popular credit cards.
“The banks are just too greedy. They want us to wait for them to develop their own contactless payment systems (last I heard, there were two in development).”
Let me guess, you don’t think Apple is being greedy by wanting to take a percentage of the banks profits for themselves. Am I right?
Wrong guess Aunty Troll. The banks make money when Apple Pay is used. So does Apple. (Apple deserves a portion of the money, as they developed ApplePay – I am not in a position to determine whether Apple’s 30% is reasonable or greedy. I look to the US and UK financial institutions that have signed on and I conclude that 30% to Apple is probably within the range of being reasonable or those institutions would have held out).
Unlike the US and UK banks, the Canadian banks have decided to prevent their customers from accessing ApplePay. That way they to retain 100% of the future revenues (and almost 100% of the market) for themselves rather than share it with Apple. Access to contactless terminals is widespread in Canada – I suspect that we lag the UK, but only slightly. And unlike the US, almost every gas station I have visited has contactless pay. So why prevent Canadians from accessing this new technology from Apple?
Ditto. I work at a credit union in Canada, and we’re in the middle of rolling out new contactless debit cards. I used to notice retailers that “could” work with Apple Pay before, but now that I can just tap my debit card at so many places, it’s even more evident just how much we’re missing out on Apple Pay. It’s not worth getting an Amex card, but I’m hoping that the banks and credit unions in Canada wake up and do what they can to get on board.
In the UK we have a GBP 30 limit per transaction. This means quite a bit of shopping cannot be done with Apple Pay, I wish they’d move it up to say GBP 250 or the same limit at the cash machines for cash withdrawal.
Still waiting for Home Depot to (re)start their acceptance … Worked fine when Apple Pay first rolled out, but they disabled it with promises of “rolling it out” again in the future. That must’ve been over a year now? Loved using it at the self checkout terminals there!
I often pay with my contactless MasterCard (PayPass), almost all shops support this type of payments, but no Apple Pay support in my country, that is big problem, I’d like to use iPhone and Apple Watch as a wallet but no support from Apple Pay in Ukraine
The support is there, you just need a card issued from a Apple Pay country and change phone settings to that region.
I love using Apple Pay, and I can use it at the vending machines at my work, and on university campus university of Wisconsin Stevens Point. I too wish there were more locations that supported it. I’m still waiting for Apple Pay to support Best Buy’s my best buy credit card, because I use that a lot.
I know that the McDonald’s by me, uses Apple Pay both in the store and at the Drive Thur.
Bigger loyalty card and store card support is the biggest key to more places accepting Apple Pay.
Deals directly with MasterCard, Maestro, Visa, and other international credit networks instead of every damn bank on the planet would vastly speed up international roll out. I don’t see why Apple has to deal with each bank to get its processing fee. NFC credit cards don’t work this way.
Better retail signage showing Apply Pay or NFC is supported and ads showing customers how and where Apple Pay is accepted would also be great.
I agree, I have my Kohl’s credit card on apple Pay, but I don’t shop there nearly as often as I do at Best Buy, so I’m unable to use Apply Pay at Best Buy, because their MyBestBuy card isn’t supported.
Germany here, no Apple Pay and I doubt it will come in the next years so yeah, whatever Apple is bringing to some countries. Another feature only some of their customers can actually use or use to its full extend (like Siri, introduced 4 years ago).
I agree Apple Pay won’t come to Germany for a long time too many things stand in the way. The Sparkassen have said they want to create their own solution and without them Apple Pay would be missing the largest Bank. Most germans dislike credit and debit cards and would much rather use cash, I don’t see Apple Pay being any different leading to low adoption of Apple Pay. Finally I’m sure how important Europe and more specifically Germany is to Apple, the iPhone only has about 20 percent market share in Europe and Apple seems to be focusing on emerging markets like China and India.
Well, I have been using Pay in Germany since the day one in October 2014. My first purchase with Pay was at Starbucks Coffee on Leopoldstraße in Munich (long before Starbucks Coffee in the US started allowing Pay this year). No problem with using Pay to pay at:
• ALDI Süd
• Edeka
• Kaiser/Tengelmann
• Galeria Kaufhof
• MyMuesli
• Denn’s Bio
• Basic Bio Supermarkt
• REAL,—
• Conrad
• My Indigo
• Kustermann
• Kaut-Bullinger
• Rischart bakeries
• Starbucks Coffee
• McDonalds
• many apothecaries
• and so forth.
The list of establishments accepting Pay grows longer and longer.
What’s more: no limit on transaction amount with Pay. The most expensive I ever paid with Pay was €300 at Conrad (no signature or PIN required). The cheapest was 70 cents at SPAR for a bottle of water in Salzburg, Austria.
More and more establishments and restaurants in Germany have installed new NFC-enabled card readers and accepted Visa/MasterCard for the first time, including ALDI Süd, the long stalwart of cheapness and resistance to the Visa and MasterCard. What an incredibly marvellous experience using both Pay and MasterCard at ALDI Süd! The technology behind card payment system is more integrated with the cash registers and allows the cashless transactions to be quicker and more convenient. To prove my point, ALDI Süd even promoted its new contactless payment system by putting up the posters all over the windows and adding the information in the website:
https://www.aldi-sued.de/de/aldi-sued-a-bis-z/aldi-sued-a-bis-z/k/kontaktlose-zahlung/
The idea that Germans hate credit and debit cards is very archaic and less true in 2016. More German customers, especially the younger ones, have started using the EC-Karte (German version of debit cards) and credit cards in lieu of cash nowadays, including my 75-year-old father who hates fishing the coins and banknotes out of his wallet. More German banks offer the contactless EC-Karte and credit cards.
In the last two years, I noticed almost all of establishments in Austria have installed NFC-enabled card readers and more Austrians use the contactless cards to pay. Not a single establishment rejects Pay even though it’s not officially introduced in Austria.
Now, my iPhone 6 has iOS 9 update, and it takes no more than two seconds to activate Pay and transmit the data to the card reader. The entire transaction takes no more than five seconds to complete. No more waiting for a cue to enter the PIN. No more waiting for PIN to be verified and approved. Not to mention handing the card to the cashier to verify the signature if the transaction requires it.
This video was released on January 2015, meaning it had “slower” iOS 8 instead of iOS 9:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jv6tDbNUBw
To tell you the truth, I can’t really imagine going back to the days without Pay! I look forward to the day the Pay is officially introduced in Germany and Austria! Hopefully this year!
Whenever I’m home in America visiting family I’m shocked by how bad the Apple Pay experience is. It’s not Apple’s fault at all — it’s just the contactless terminal infrastructure sucks across America compared to where I live in the United Kingdom. Virtually ever store from major chains to small mom and pop shops in have had contactless terminals for years. And I’m not just talking about in major cities like London. You visit a small town up north and everyone one off connivence store has contactless terminals. You can use Apple Pay EVERYWHERE. In America there’s all this infighting over proprietary contact payment solutions from retailers. That’s a shame, because American customers are missing out on how wonderful the Apple Pay experience can be.
I think public transit is one reason why NFC is so common in the UK, parts of Europe and Japan and large parts of Asia. NFC payments started off for paying for public transits then spread to NFC credit cards.
The adoption here and the NFC was slow and before mobile started having NFC Visa, Discover and MasterCard stopped issuing NFC credit cards. I figured with most retailers adding EMV(chip and pin) readers they would update to pos terminals that have both NFC and EMV support. Its complete shit that retailers have turned off NFC for Apple Pay or completely to avoid loosing out on transaction fees,
I wonder how much transaction fees has to do with the difference of NFC and Apple Pay adoption in the US vs globally. They are many small retailers that refuse ue of a credit card unless you make a minimum of $5 to $10 purchase.
is the maximum purchase using NFC still £30 in the UK?
It’s not really a surprise; major retailers REALLY hate that they won’t be able to collect data without customers’ consent if they accept NFC. Even loyalty cards via Wallet/Passbook would be a downgrade for some of them due to the opt-in aspect. I wouldn’t be surprised if most major retailers don’t end up accepting anything other than chip/EMV, magstripe and maybe the retailer’s own app when it’s all said and done.
The huge problem with Apple Pay is that it only works with Apple specific terminals…
Over here in Japan we havent adopted Apple Pay – for the simple reason that Apple isnt playing nice with everyone else and demands a separate terminal…
When I go to a convenience store (and there are lots of them here) they have one terminal that accepts NFC from smart phones, old compatible clamshell phones (Japan have been using this tech since about 2001), but also with various charge cars (such as the suica IC card used for trains, but also payment in various stores and restaurants, with no limit of transaction)…many restaurants also have this, and other stores too — although in japan touch payment is mostly used for small payments, such as the train, and cash payment for everything else.
Apple do have a long way to go — but most stores, restaurants, gas stations etc would have Apple Pay IF they, and other companies, all played nice together…
The idea of having a samsung pay, an apple pay, a target pay, a walmart pay — people are just going to turn round and say “do you know what? – just take my card and i will put in a pin… im not messing around trying to working out which one to tap or to find out that you have every other machine but the one i want.”…
Apple does not demand a separate terminal. The hold hope is on Apple making deals for transaction fees with banks. Its the backend that needs updated by payment processors and nothing else.Apple Pay should work with any NFC terminal and is capable of doing so with the right back end update.
From my understanding the NFC is restricted to certain terminals and does have compatibility issues —
Not all terminals are compatible!!!
Yes pdixon1986, Apple Pay does require and NFC capable terminal, but Apple itself doesn’t require a separate terminal for use solely for Apple Pay, once you have an NFC terminal, any NFC terminal, you have the capability to accept Apply Pay, Android Pay, etc etc
All vending machines around my office supports Apple Pay, plus Jimmy John’s, plus McDonalds, plus Fresh Thyme grocery store, plus Meijer, and that’s practically everything I need as of now (I know I lead a simple life) except for the gas station scenario. I’m really happy about the transformation of payment method Apple Pay has brought by.
I use Apple Pay via my Apple Watch on the vending machines at work, but they have a 10 cent surcharge.
I think its an amazing invention but to be honest most small businesses do not have this yet and thats honestly where i do most of my transactions and since thats the case i never remember to use it at the few places that do carry it. i hope they start expanding more, maybe help subsidize new readers for small businesses since Apple gets a cut of all transactions? It would only benefit them to help jump start into the small business world which have a lot of money passing through them as a whole.
Rather than making deals with each retailer, Apple should make a deal with Verifone to make it super easy for any retailer to use Apple Pay.
They really should try and roll out other countries faster. In Europe most of the payment terminals are ready.
60% of apples revenue is overseas now, but many of the features are reserved for the US. This is really frustrating since the devices are not cheaper in Europe for example but rather more expensive. The product is nowadays so much more than the hardware. It feels cheating to realize they actually only work in apples backyard.
I’m studying abroad in Australia and almost every single place that takes credit cards accepts Apple Pay, even though they have no idea that they do until I use it. Nobody uses it here but every place unknowingly accepts it. The US needs this level of acceptance so I can just leave the wallet at home! It’s going to be disappointing when I get home and I can’t use it anymore.
In Finland where NFC terminals and contactless payments has been common for years (and as tokenisation is being implemented by Visa Europe) I wonder what is the hold-up not implementing Apple Pay. I have payed for years my shopping, taxi, Uber etc. wirelessly with my Visa card so why no Apple Pay. I sent an e-mail to Visa but so far no answer.
Samsung pay is better. It just works at more places than Apple Pay. Just calling it like I see it.
Don’t worry; Samsung is still on my shit list because they hold Android updates hostage. If they would leave Android alone and update in a timely manner I wouldn’t be using a iPhone.
Maybe the author should man up and do a face to face comparison to prove me wrong when it comes to Apple Pay vs Samsung pay? That would be fun to watch.
Works great at McDonalds and Walgreens, but those are still the only 2 places I come across that accept it. Even the ability to add rewards cards to ApplePay is working great at Walgreens. When the terminal prompts for a phone number or rewards card to be swiped you just hole the phone to it and ApplePay automatically brings up the rewards card for you to authenticate with Touch ID, then when the payment screen comes up you do it again and it automatically selects your default payment card. Works flawlessly 99% of the time.
We are waiting for Apple Pay here in Spain. Tim Cook promised it to roll out during 2016. I just hope to have it during the first semester.
I live down the street from infinite loop and the Apple Pay experience is hit or miss many stores around here still don’t support so you are left guessing should I try to use Apple Pay or not. However with that said it has improved since it first launched there are more stores that support it but not enough to make using Apple Pay a regular thing. Credit cards and cash are still easier.
I live in Slovakia but happen to have US credit card. Apple Pay is accepoted pretty much everywhere I tguink the terminals can not distinguish it froim contactless cards that we have for a long time. The best thing is that with Apple Pay US there is no annoying EUR 20 limit that is on the card – higher you have to punch PIN in. I donmt use it for large purchases – it would cost me on exchange rate and overseas transactions charged by my US bank. But to pay for parking when your hands are full or a round of beers for your mates by your watch is awesome!!!;)
I too wish that it had a far greater reach. I left my wallet at home the other day and simply needed some milk for the baby, and only had my phone. I was upset that Fry’s (Kroger Company) still does not support contactless payments (at least where I am, in AZ). I am also disappointed that Target still makes you use their app. It is so much faster for me to use my debit card than opening an App, then working through it to pay. I specifically avoid all those apps for the purpose of showing those companies that I do not support their app services like that, and hope that they will see that it is better to have the direct apple pay service available.