Using a phone sounds inconvenient to me. I usually just pull my card out of my wallet, wave it over the terminal until I hear a beep and that’s it. Worst case scenario, I have to insert it into the chip reader or God-forbid swipe it through the slot like some kind of Neanderthal.
I’m kidding, but seriously, that’s easier than screwing around with a phone, to me.
I don’t understand how retrieving a phone from a pocket is somehow less convenient than retrieving a wallet from a pocket, and then retrieving the card from the wallet. That’s 1 step versus 2 steps.
@GamingChairModel
Unlocking the phone can take a bit longer. I use my watch, which is just as inconvenient but at least I don’t have to reach for anything. @OpticalMoose
How the heck is your watch inconvenient? It’s already out. It’s already unlocked. You don’t even need to pull up your sleeve. I just double-click and wave my arm in front if the reader- you can’t get more convenient
@AA5B
Logging in, dragging down from the top, picking the right card, getting it to the exact location on the scan tool used and angling my wrist properly so it can send the data.
That’s not too mention keeping you’re watch operating system up to date so the card will actually work
That’s crazy talk - enable automatic updates and set the default card to the one you usually use. Usually it reads if within an inch or two, although you never know where the sensor may be
The convenience comes from leaving your wallet at home. Also, a lost card is a major problem. A lost phone is fine, nobody can do anything with it unless they know your PIN and you can locate it through cell network/bluetooth tracking.
There’s not that much fuss with my phone - double tap the side button, look at it to pass a face recognition check, then wave it over the chip reader.
A lost phone is a much bigger issue to me. A lost card is trivial - call my bank, they cancel the old one, issue a new one, it’s here in 2 days.
A lost phone? Shit, gotta go to the cell store, get a new sim, but only after I’ve gone home and grabbed an old phone, and spent a few hours setting it up. Including things like restoring 2FA stuff, which is a pain, at best.
Oh, you don’t have spares lying around like I do? Then you’re paying full price at the cell store, anywhere from $300+ (or getting a shitty low end phone, if your cell provider sells one).
And then I’d bet most people don’t have proper backup/sync of their data, so would lose things like photos, downloads, etc.
Losing a phone is clearly far more of a hassle than losing a credit card or two.
I have to carry my “wallet” (little more than a money clip), for things like my ID, access cards, etc, anyway.
Using a phone to pay is far less convenient, and it’s too many eggs in one basket, which is already an issue with phones.
I’ve also never had a credit card randomly reboot and get stuck in a bootloop. And in 30+ years of carrying them, I’ve had exactly one magnetic stripe failure - many years ago - and the stripe is rarely used any more.
Same here. I guess I should have pointed out that I’m not really much of a phone guy to begin with. I don’t install many apps, and I stay logged out of Google. To me, losing a phone really just means losing my pictures and videos. The most expensive phone I’ve ever had was $200.
The phone has advantages in that it’s more secure (because you’re not giving the merchant your real card number so when they inevitably have a hack, you don’t need to get your card replaced), and that you can carry multiple cards without taking up any extra space. Also, most people are playing on their phones while they wait to check out so it’s already in their hand.
I double click my power button and Apple Pay is there. Way more convenient for me than to pull my wallet out of my purse, pull my card out, wave or insert it, put it back in the wallet, and put the wallet back in my purse.
It’s not for everyone, but I definitely find it more convenient.
I guess “It’s not for everyone” is the real takeaway here. I’m not a phone guy in general, but I’ve been using cards since BK was still selling 99¢ Whoppers. I’m guessing both of us are ready to pay before the cashier has our order rung up.
To each their own. (I’m finally admitting that I’m fighting a losing battle on writing checks though.)
Samsung here. I pull my phone out of my pocket and without turning on the screen, slide my thumb along the bottom of the screen. Actually faster than pulling cash out of my wallet.
Using a phone sounds inconvenient to me. I usually just pull my card out of my wallet, wave it over the terminal until I hear a beep and that’s it. Worst case scenario, I have to insert it into the chip reader or God-forbid swipe it through the slot like some kind of Neanderthal.
I’m kidding, but seriously, that’s easier than screwing around with a phone, to me.
I don’t understand how retrieving a phone from a pocket is somehow less convenient than retrieving a wallet from a pocket, and then retrieving the card from the wallet. That’s 1 step versus 2 steps.
@GamingChairModel
Unlocking the phone can take a bit longer. I use my watch, which is just as inconvenient but at least I don’t have to reach for anything.
@OpticalMoose
How the heck is your watch inconvenient? It’s already out. It’s already unlocked. You don’t even need to pull up your sleeve. I just double-click and wave my arm in front if the reader- you can’t get more convenient
@AA5B
Logging in, dragging down from the top, picking the right card, getting it to the exact location on the scan tool used and angling my wrist properly so it can send the data.
That’s not too mention keeping you’re watch operating system up to date so the card will actually work
That’s crazy talk - enable automatic updates and set the default card to the one you usually use. Usually it reads if within an inch or two, although you never know where the sensor may be
What watch do you use?
@june
Pixel watch 2, not that it really matters as the point is valid with any that are even remotely secure.
Just curious to know which watch has that laborious of a process. No judgement here.
My Apple Watch is a double click and my default card pops right up. Ezpz.
@june
I’d argue it’s also not as secure, not that many things are as secure as they should be.
The convenience comes from leaving your wallet at home. Also, a lost card is a major problem. A lost phone is fine, nobody can do anything with it unless they know your PIN and you can locate it through cell network/bluetooth tracking.
There’s not that much fuss with my phone - double tap the side button, look at it to pass a face recognition check, then wave it over the chip reader.
A lost phone is a much bigger issue to me. A lost card is trivial - call my bank, they cancel the old one, issue a new one, it’s here in 2 days.
A lost phone? Shit, gotta go to the cell store, get a new sim, but only after I’ve gone home and grabbed an old phone, and spent a few hours setting it up. Including things like restoring 2FA stuff, which is a pain, at best.
Oh, you don’t have spares lying around like I do? Then you’re paying full price at the cell store, anywhere from $300+ (or getting a shitty low end phone, if your cell provider sells one).
And then I’d bet most people don’t have proper backup/sync of their data, so would lose things like photos, downloads, etc.
Losing a phone is clearly far more of a hassle than losing a credit card or two.
I have to carry my “wallet” (little more than a money clip), for things like my ID, access cards, etc, anyway.
Using a phone to pay is far less convenient, and it’s too many eggs in one basket, which is already an issue with phones.
I’ve also never had a credit card randomly reboot and get stuck in a bootloop. And in 30+ years of carrying them, I’ve had exactly one magnetic stripe failure - many years ago - and the stripe is rarely used any more.
Also, I’ve never lost my phone or a wallet.
Same here. I guess I should have pointed out that I’m not really much of a phone guy to begin with. I don’t install many apps, and I stay logged out of Google. To me, losing a phone really just means losing my pictures and videos. The most expensive phone I’ve ever had was $200.
The phone has advantages in that it’s more secure (because you’re not giving the merchant your real card number so when they inevitably have a hack, you don’t need to get your card replaced), and that you can carry multiple cards without taking up any extra space. Also, most people are playing on their phones while they wait to check out so it’s already in their hand.
Using the phone payment is a convenient to me as I don’t have to remember the PIN.
What about the pin to unlock your phone? And at least here there’s no pin with tap.
At least on my country contactless with a card only works up to a limit (€50). Beyond that amount you need to input your pin code.
With a phone, no pin code. With a smartwatch either, and that’s my preferred way. No need to pull anything out of my pocket.
I double click my power button and Apple Pay is there. Way more convenient for me than to pull my wallet out of my purse, pull my card out, wave or insert it, put it back in the wallet, and put the wallet back in my purse.
It’s not for everyone, but I definitely find it more convenient.
I guess “It’s not for everyone” is the real takeaway here. I’m not a phone guy in general, but I’ve been using cards since BK was still selling 99¢ Whoppers. I’m guessing both of us are ready to pay before the cashier has our order rung up.
To each their own. (I’m finally admitting that I’m fighting a losing battle on writing checks though.)
Shudders
Phone out of pocket -> swipe is one less step than wallet out of pocket -> card out of wallet -> swipe.
Samsung here. I pull my phone out of my pocket and without turning on the screen, slide my thumb along the bottom of the screen. Actually faster than pulling cash out of my wallet.