Apple Card launches today for all US customers • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Card launches today for all US customers

#101

Post by rodgerd » Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 9:50 AM UTC

nknealk wrote: post #56

I was recently in England. Nearly every payment terminal supports contactless in the cities I visited. I found myself using Apple Pay throughout the trip because it was fast and convenient. Also in restaurants they bring a payment terminal out to your table so you can pay with Apple Pay. Unfortunately, contactless payment terminals are somewhat more rare in the USA. My local grocery store (Kroger) doesn’t have them.

It's almost like New Zealand 25 years ago.

I don't know how people put up with the arse-backwards payments in the US. Paying for things like rent with cheques, for heaven's sake!

Re: Apple Card launches today for all US customers

#102

Post by davidmr » Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 9:51 AM UTC

nknealk wrote: post #56

I was recently in England. Nearly every payment terminal supports contactless in the cities I visited. I found myself using Apple Pay throughout the trip because it was fast and convenient. Also in restaurants they bring a payment terminal out to your table so you can pay with Apple Pay. Unfortunately, contactless payment terminals are somewhat more rare in the USA. My local grocery store (Kroger) doesn’t have them.

It's genuinely shocking how far behind the USA is in terms of consumer banking. I moved from Chicago to London about six months ago, and I can't believe how much more convenient it is. You can wire money to anyone with a bank account without an intermediary like Venmo or Zelle from your phone, either as a one-off or recurring. I can revoke permission to draw regularly on my account from my phone, so I don't have to go 10 rounds with the gym or something to quit. You can pay for anything you like with a tap of your phone, and it takes maybe a second to clear. My credit cards never leave my possession.

I still have the envelope of cash I pulled out when I got here in February, minus maybe £40. I haven't needed it!

Re: Apple Card launches today for all US customers

#103

Post by simonh » Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 9:52 AM UTC

photonios wrote: post #84

nknealk wrote: post #56

I was recently in England. Nearly every payment terminal supports contactless in the cities I visited. I found myself using Apple Pay throughout the trip because it was fast and convenient. Also in restaurants they bring a payment terminal out to your table so you can pay with Apple Pay. Unfortunately, contactless payment terminals are somewhat more rare in the USA. My local grocery store (Kroger) doesn’t have them.

Yup, same in the Netherlands and Romania. The adoption of contactless payments in Romania has been astonishing. When I first moved here four years ago you could only pay by card at restaurants and supermarkets and definitely not contactless. Now, four years later, you can pay contactless everywhere. Including all the little stores. Any place that supports card payments also supports contactless payments. Hell, you ca…

In London you generally don't even get a bus, rail or underground ticket. You just swipe the contactless pads to hop on, or in and out at stations. Very occasionally an inspector just holds a hand terminal to your card to check you paid.

Re: Apple Card launches today for all US customers

#104

Post by rkangel » Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 9:52 AM UTC

freyr wrote: post #74

nknealk wrote: post #56

I was recently in England. Nearly every payment terminal supports contactless in the cities I visited. I found myself using Apple Pay throughout the trip because it was fast and convenient. Also in restaurants they bring a payment terminal out to your table so you can pay with Apple Pay. Unfortunately, contactless payment terminals are somewhat more rare in the USA. My local grocery store (Kroger) doesn’t have them.

It's weird that we lag so far behind in some areas, even when we help develop the technology.

It's not the only reason but the US has a scale and population density disadvantage which makes it more expensive to roll out technology nationwide. You can see this with cellphones as well - rolling out 3G coverage across the UK is a lot cheaper 'per customer' than it is across the US, so we have better coverage.

Re: Apple Card launches today for all US customers

#105

Post by rkangel » Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 9:53 AM UTC

elSidCampeador wrote: post #95

freyr wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's weird that we lag so far behind in some areas, even when we help develop the technology.

According to Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga[1], they've noticed that if the transport system in an area becomes contactless enabled, then contactless adoption ramps up faster. [1] - https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2019/07/30/ma... Search the page for "transport" and go to the first result.

Anecdotally - London use of contactless certainly accelerated when the Underground started taking contactless.

Re: Apple Card launches today for all US customers

#106

Post by Multicomp » Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 10:02 AM UTC

peteretep wrote: post #85

Rebelgecko wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, unless you're on one of their lower end phones you can also use Samsung Pay on a regular credit card reader. Most Samsung phones can emulate the mag stripe of a credit card if you hold them near the swipe area.

> Most Samsung phones can emulate the mag stripe of a credit card if you hold them near the swipe area Source for this claim?

See the Note 8 and 9. It works like magic

Re: Apple Card launches today for all US customers

#107

Post by gilbertbw » Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 10:08 AM UTC

peteretep wrote: post #85

Rebelgecko wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, unless you're on one of their lower end phones you can also use Samsung Pay on a regular credit card reader. Most Samsung phones can emulate the mag stripe of a credit card if you hold them near the swipe area.

> Most Samsung phones can emulate the mag stripe of a credit card if you hold them near the swipe area Source for this claim?

There is an article about it here: https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/13/9146965/samsung-pay-mobil...

Re: Apple Card launches today for all US customers

#108

Post by cameronbrown » Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 10:20 AM UTC

oblio wrote: post #91

mehrdadn wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if this is a false memory but I seem to recall at least one time when I saw a vendor swipe a card because chip didn't work on that particular occasion for some reason. I don't know if magnet is actually more reliable, but it does seem to be that way to me.

In Europe I've never used the magnetic stripe. Across 10+ countries, for the past 10+ years.

They still exist in the UK, but I've never seen one used.

Re: Apple Card launches today for all US customers

#109

Post by corobo » Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 10:39 AM UTC

cameronbrown wrote: post #108

oblio wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Europe I've never used the magnetic stripe. Across 10+ countries, for the past 10+ years.

They still exist in the UK, but I've never seen one used.

I 'used' it once when Sainsbury's first introduced their self checkouts, for some reason it asked me to do it after I tried chip+pin.

Didn't work. Ended up having to pop outside to the cashpoint to get analogue money out.

I assume it's just one of those old weird technologies that just exists because solely it's not been removed yet like fax machines

Re: Apple Card launches today for all US customers

#110

Post by OrgNet » Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 10:49 AM UTC

js2 wrote: post #34

This is not a card for people looking to maximize rewards. It’s for Apple users who want decent benefits and no fees, who will mostly use Apple Pay. (Apparently it’s also good for folks establishing a credit history who might not otherwise get approved.) I’ve got 300k points between AmEx and Chase and I recently realized I can’t ever use them when I want to. I don’t want to play all the games of which points can I us…

> I don’t get folks coming here to criticize the card. It’s just a credit card. Take it or leave it.

Maybe because of the way Apple presents the card:

"Apple Card, a new kind of credit card created by Apple and designed to help customers lead a healthier financial life [...]"

I see nothing special in this card offer... it is about what I've had for 10+ years with BoA.