Apple Pay rolled out in the U.K. this week, letting a bunch more people start paying for snacks, clothes, and commutes with their late-model Apple gear. It’s all very neat and exciting, but our friends should get ready for some unexpected side effects of living in the high-tech future time.
For example:
You may not find that many places to use Apple Pay
Just because plenty of banks already support the touchless payment method, that only means that you can add your card if you use one of them. Actually finding a place to buy stuff with your Apple Watch or iPhone 6 might take a bit more work.
I’ve been using Apple Pay for about two months, and that’s also the number of stores I’ve gone to that have had the infrastructure to let me pay with my watch. I’m not complaining, but I do go other places sometimes, and my tastes and Apple’s don’t appear to have much overlap.
So basically, just temper your expectations, and keep an eye on Apple’s list of places that accept the payment system.
Be ready to explain yourself
Once you find a place that supports Apple Pay, you may still have some difficulty when it comes time to check out.
Cult of Mac’s news editor Buster Hein says that he’s had some trouble using the system in the drive-through at McDonald’s. The fast-food chain has the readers to accept a payment via near-field communication, but it hasn’t figured out how to make the things accessible to drivers without some help. Buster says that the employees at the window have had to actually hold the scanner up so that he could reach it.
Even if the reader is right there on the counter, you might have a little extra work to do in these early days. I’ve had cashiers not notice that I was holding my Apple Watch up to the scanner, so we ended up just standing there staring at each other because I was waiting for her to select the “Credit” option, and she was waiting for me to take out my wallet.
Cooperation is going to be important until everyone gets the hang of the new tech.
People are going to warn you about teh haxxorz
Photo: Hackers/United Artists
I get this one; I really do. The idea of storing your credit card information on your phone or watch sounds like the riskiest thing imaginable. Someone could steal your stuff, or your data is just, like … on there, right?
Despite some security gaps, no. Apple Watch locks when you take it off, requiring a PIN to use, and the iPhone 6 has both a PIN and Touch ID to keep people from getting up in your business if they swipe your gadgets.
One cashier shook her head sadly at me and said, “Well, if they can hack the government’s systems … ”
I almost told her about end-to-end encryption and how Apple Pay transactions use a specialized, proprietary token that is different from your credit card information, which basically makes it more secure than your card.
But I didn’t want to, so I just said, “I think it’s alright” and left.
Prepare to be treated like a wizard
Photo: floodllama/Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0
Even if a store is fully briefed on how touchless payments work and how to spot them, and everything knows what’s up, some people are still unprepared for what happens when they see a person pay for biscuits with their smartwatch.
I try to be low-key when I use Apple Pay because we’re all still getting used to it over here, but I do still need to buy my stuff. So I’ll double-tap the side button and hold it up to the reader and wait. Usually, nothing happens, but sometimes, I get The Gasp.
“Oh my god,” one woman said. “I love it when people do this!”
Another guy was horrified. “What are you doing?” he asked, his eyes wide as I held my arm up to the reader.
I close my hand when I do this, so hopefully he didn’t think I was about to punch him for no reason, but then the scanner beeped, and he jumped a little.
“Did you … is that …?” he said.
“Yeah, we live in the future,” I replied. “It’s amazing.”
Evan Killham is a freelance writer who lives in Nebraska and isn’t interested in football, so he has plenty of time to play and think about video games. He has written for Bitmob and GamesBeat and sometimes, he even goes outside. But not too often because he’s heard there are bees out there. Occasionally, companies send free units for review. Evan subscribes to Cult of Mac’s Reviews Policy and also does not keep the items he receives for possible coverage.
26 responses to “Apple Pay in the UK: Prepare to blow some minds, hold up lines”
‘You may not find that many places to use Apple Pay’
This one isn’t really applicable in the UK, since many, many shops have Contactless payments set up already (Europe seems to be a bit further ahead than the US with contactless, chip and PIN etc) which is all you need for Apple Pay. I’d wager that it’s harder to find somewhere which doesn’t support it. I’ve been to four places in two days and used it.
That’s what I’ve been finding here!
Yeah, we had more outlets in our tiny U.K. with contactless at launch than all of the U.S. had!
Furthermore, we still have more contactless readers in the U.K. than the U.S. has now!
It is the same in Canada (maybe a common-wealth thing lol) All of our debit and credit cards had pin numbers long before the U.S. and contactless payments long before them as well. It always boggles me how Canada seems to be catching up to the U.S. in so many areas yet we are constantly years ahead in credit card protection.
With that being said, I thought that would help in us getting ApplePay a lot sooner but that is a whole other infuriating conversation.
Haha. I’ve been using my Apple Watch for about 6 weeks in the U.K. with my America Cards and been using it since day 1 on my phone in America.
I’ve had the exactly the same responses when buying stuff, literally people can’t believe what they are seeing, it’s very funny.
No question the English are a lot more easily impressed than the American store staff!
So, how fast is it to use your watch to pay? That is an awesome feature.
Literally instant! Can be quicker than the phone because your not having to rely on the touch ID to happen. Just double press the button on the watch and put phone near the terminal. It is brilliant!
I’d been impressed if Natwest hadn’t repeatedly forced me to call their never-answered 0345 number for three days to validate my debit card. Still haven’t got through.
Why can’t they use text verification like everyone else ?
Grrrrr.
Thats strange, I added my NatWest card and it did it by Pin Code over text.
Ny NW Mastercard used a text PIN code, but my NW debit card demands I phone them. Been trying since 9am on the 14th, but I just get a message saying they can’t be arsed to pick up the phone.
My Natwest Visa Debit card just asked for either a pin sent via text or a telephone call. I chose the pin.
I don’t get a option, just a number that’s never answered.
Thats really frustrating
Tried to use Apple Pay in Wagamamas today (one of the Apple Pay launch partners), but the waitress went away to check, then came back to say it “didn’t work yet.”
I paid for my coffee in Costa; as I was queuing the manager was upset that they couldn’t take Apple Pay yet; they had an email telling them that their systems were not up to date. Imagine her amazement when I paid with Apple Pay explaining that they merely need a contactless card reader.
I bought a sandwich at my local Co-op on day 1. No problem except my AMEX card was challenged so I had to produce the card and enter my PIN.
Then went to McDonalds later where a sign stated Apple Pay ready but although my phone said the payment went through, McDonald’s system did not record the sale. Tried twice, manager appeared and I ended up using my AMEX card contactless.
Teething problems hopefully!
Just wait till Samsung Pay comes out, then we’ll see who’s living in the future…
Yeah, wait
A future of identity theft probably.
When it comes to Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, there really is no identity to steal. Both use a system of tokens which are sent to the bank to identify that you made a payment. Each time you make a payment, the tokens are different, which really makes it impossible for any of your identity to get stolen. The major aspect of both systems is that none of your information is stored in your phone, not even your credit card number. Also, as many people have already said, it is less secure to use your credit card than to use electronic payments.
The thing with Samsung Pay is that it does not need special terminals like Apple Pay does. Samsung Pay is already set to word with the magnetic card readers which are in stores today, which means that stores do not need to change any of their payment systems for Samsung Pay to work. That means that the day Samsung Pay is launched in the US (which is going to be quite soon, considering that it is in beta testing in South Korea right now) people will be able to use Samsung Pay right off the bat. They won’t have to find participating locations like Apple customers do.
There’s not much special about the contactless terminals that Apple Pay requires. As for magnetic stripe, good luck with that! In the U.K. most retailers will not let you swipe a card as its too insecure.
Yes, but the point is that many stores and retailers do not want to buy new contactless payment terminals, because it is a huge expense. That’s why Samsung made it’s payment system work with existing terminals.
Well in the U.K. at least, a lot of retailers already have. When the US finally adopts Chip & PIN, the terminals will have to be updated anyway. Also as I said, most retailers will not allow card swipes as they are too open to fraud.
Yea, it’s hilarious how many people think that using your phone to pay is less secure. Currently it’s less secure to use your card. Yes, anything is hackable, but it’s about making it harder and the end to end encryption and using random numbers makes it even more secure than using your card. example, those people that were using tap and pay at home depot in the usa were not hacked when everyone else that used cards was hacked.
We’ve been contactless for years here. Apple Pay strikes many I’ve spoken to as the answer to a problem we do not have. London Transport is cashless, but using your Apple phone or watch is too slow for touch in and out on the tube, leading to the Apple Pay pioneers risking injury from the person behind them as blundering into them as Apple Pay holds them at the barrier for a beat longer than expected!