Thanks to Apple, the Future is coming faster than anyone ever expected! With Apple Pay, a brand new payment service from the tech giant, you can now pay at a multitude of physical stores with only the help of your smartphone. The whole process takes only a few seconds and you don’t need to open up any apps or waste any time tinkering with your phone. Today, we’re going to take a look at Apple Pay, how it works, what smartphones are compatible, how you can benefit from using it and see what banks are affiliated with and accept payments through Apple Pay.
Apple Pay was eagerly awaited by many tech-savvy people and when it was released on October 20, 2014 through an update to iOS 8.1, the whole Internet exploded. Even though iOS 8 was launched on the market with a quite a few bumps, Apple Pay made up for that.
As for compatible iPhones? The only iPhones that are compatible with Apple Pay are the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus thanks to their NFC (Near Field Communication) chip that communicates with retail terminals and the secure element. The Apple Watch is also compatible, so if you want to pay for goods with your watch and feel like you’re in an episode of the Jetsons, go ahead and do it. The iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 are compatible with Apple Pay, but we don’t really envision a world where you take your tablet out of your bag to make a purchase.
The greatest things about Apple Pay is that it allows users to make purchase with just one single tap. You don’t have to take out your credit card to confirm any data, all that precious information is store on your iPhone and protected by many built-in security system, the first of which is TouchID. This confirmation is done, in the case of the Apple Watch through skin contact!
When a purchase is made with Apple Pay, you simply feel a subtle vibration and hear a beep that tells you the purchase is complete. No opening of apps, no closing of apps, no passwords and no fuss!
Apple Pay supports credit and debit cards from American Express, Visa and MasterCard issued by banks including, Citi, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase and Wells Fargo. These five banks make up 83% of credit card purchase volume inside the US. Around 500 banks are tied up with Apple Pay.
As of late, several more banks started supporting Apple Pay and they include: USAA, PNC, Barclaycard, Navy Federal Credit Union, US Bank, TD Bank, Regions Bank, SunTrust and more. If you want to know the complete list of banks support that Apple Pay, head over to the Apple Pay website.
It was recently announced by research firm ITG that Apple Pay is already accounting for one percent of all digital payments, which is huge, considering the number of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus available right now in America and the fact that Apple Pay was only launched two months ago. For comparison purposes, you should know that Google Wallet is accounting for 4% of all digital payments inside the US and Google Wallet has been around for more than three years.
ITG also revealed the top merchants that accept Apple Pay and they are: McDonald’s, Whole Foods and Walgreens.
Apple is planning to completely replace the wallet and we believe that they’re on the right path. Apple CEO, Tim Cook, said that he believes that Apple Pay will forever change the way all of us buy things.