Major Retailers that Support NFC Payments

[garyjones027]

Of course there are exceptions, but even in the US it's still generally true that contactless acceptance means that Apple Pay works (at least at the terminal level). The differences start showing up when you consider the usability of the terminal in the first place. For example, the hospitality/food service industries in general are especially not great for customer use of NFC but depending on the location may still have significant use of contactless (by virtue of employees tapping physical cards for customers).

Unfortunately I suspect that as long as contactless is getting used at all, that's good enough for Visa, MC, etc. Which means that a lot of the usability issues may never get fixed.

The NFC on a physical credit card and a physical debit card are different from the NFC of mobile phones and smart watches.

In UK and Ireland, if your payment is £100 or more in UK or €50 or more in Ireland, then the card reader locks the NFC for physical cards. In this case, you need to insert your card and enter PIN number.

The card reader does not lock the NFC for mobile phones and smart watches if you pay these amounts in UK and Ireland. This means that you can use Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.

 

[tmiw]

What’s striking is how those usability issues seem to be pretty much exclusive to the USA and very rarely if at all do they happen anywhere else.

I suspect it happens elsewhere, too, just that it's not reported nearly as often. For example, South Korea supposedly has had pretty poor NFC acceptance for quite a while (to the point where Apple Pay only came out there within the last year or so) and is chip and signature like the US is.

The NFC on a physical credit card and a physical debit card are different from the NFC of mobile phones and smart watches.

In UK and Ireland, if your payment is £100 or more in UK or €50 or more in Ireland, then the card reader locks the NFC for physical cards. In this case, you need to insert your card and enter PIN number.

The card reader does not lock the NFC for mobile phones and smart watches if you pay these amounts in UK and Ireland. This means that you can use Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.

I was responding to what I thought was something about Apple Pay not being accepted everywhere contactless cards are. The other way around is of course possible and pretty common depending on the country.

 

[michaelsanchez0027]

In 2024, many Americans are very surprised that they not know that people can pay by card with their mobile phones and smart watches in stores of USA. 😄

 

[tmiw]

In 2024, most Americans are very surprised that they did not know that people can pay with their mobile phones and smart watches in stores of USA. 😄

What I got from that video is that Google needs much better marketing. Even Samsung got mentioned earlier and more often than Apple.

 

[echopulse]

Someone recently posted that Savers Thrift Stores take apple pay now. Can anyone else confirm?

 

[cub850G2]

Someone recently posted that Savers Thrift Stores take apple pay now. Can anyone else confirm?

It was me who saw it and left that comment. I just didn't post the image of proof which I will now post here. I know as of July 2023 they did not have contactless enabled so it has been turned on since then. Receipt says "CHIP CONTACTLESS".

 

[echopulse]

Cool thanks!

 

[jedimasterkyle]

Got our taxes done last weekend at H&R Block. Went to pay at the counter and the receptionist thought I was insane for holding my phone up to the card reader. She looked at me like "That's not how the card reader works...". The card reader accepted Apple Pay with zero issues and the look on her face was priceless! She was legitimately shocked that I had paid with something using my phone. She was probably closer to 70 and I explained to her that any card reader that has the NFC symbol accepts Apple Pay or any of the other tap-to-pay services.

It was like I had just told her that we had landed on the moon and women could vote. She was completely beside herself and could not believe how far technology could come.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Got our taxes done last weekend at H&R Block. Went to pay at the counter and the receptionist thought I was insane for holding my phone up to the card reader. She looked at me like "That's not how the card reader works...". The card reader accepted Apple Pay with zero issues and the look on her face was priceless! She was legitimately shocked that I had paid with something using my phone. She was probably closer to 70 and I explained to her that any card reader that has the NFC symbol accepts Apple Pay or any of the other tap-to-pay services.

It was like I had just told her that we had landed on the moon and women could vote. She was completely beside herself and could not believe how far technology could come.

Love it!

I had a similar experience the first few times I paid for something with Apple Pay on my watch... and freaked out a Delta gate agent several years ago when I scanned my boarding pass via my watch...

 

[garyjones027]

In the USA, most Americans do not know that you can pay with your mobile phones at the credit card machines except for business owners.

 

[echopulse]

In the USA, most Americans do not know that you can pay with your mobile phones at the credit card machines except for business owners.

I don't think that's true. Close to 50% of people in the US has used a mobile wallet in 2022 according to a study. It was projected to grow to like 60% by this year.

 

[jedimasterkyle]

In the USA, most Americans do not know that you can pay with your mobile phones at the credit card machines except for business owners.

I think it's becoming more widely adopted than you realize. If anything, COVID accelerated NFC payment usage at stores and businesses. The problem with NFC in the US are three fold:

1. Not all stores and businesses accept it.
2. The stores and businesses who do accept it dont train their employees properly to encourage it's use OR it's not advertised on the store front window that it's accepted.
3. Certain demographics of the population dont realize that it's a thing or care to use it.

Another issue plaguing the US consumer when it comes to NFC payments is trust and paranoia. My dad absolutely refuses to use anything cloud based, even iCloud because he's worried that he's going to have his data stolen. While his concerns are valid, he refuses to use Apple Pay anywhere because in his mind, it's just "Money in the cloud that will be inevitably stolen from me". I've explained Apple Pay to him 1000 times and showed him simple videos on youtube on how it works but he refuses to accept that the technology is secure.

 

[garyjones027]

In this video, some Americans are still surprised when they see someone pay with their mobile phones at the credit card machines in stores of USA. 😆

 

[jedimasterkyle]

In this video, some Americans are still surprised when they see someone pay with their mobile phones at the credit card machines in stores of USA. 😆

Umm...not really. That video explains HOW it works. It doesn't highlight someone's shock and amazement at it working.

 

[lartola]

I think it's becoming more widely adopted than you realize. If anything, COVID accelerated NFC payment usage at stores and businesses. The problem with NFC in the US are three fold:

1. Not all stores and businesses accept it.
2. The stores and businesses who do accept it dont train their employees properly to encourage it's use OR it's not advertised on the store front window that it's accepted.
3. Certain demographics of the population dont realize that it's a thing or care to use it.

Another issue plaguing the US consumer when it comes to NFC payments is trust and paranoia. My dad absolutely refuses to use anything cloud based, even iCloud because he's worried that he's going to have his data stolen. While his concerns are valid, he refuses to use Apple Pay anywhere because in his mind, it's just "Money in the cloud that will be inevitably stolen from me". I've explained Apple Pay to him 1000 times and showed him simple videos on youtube on how it works but he refuses to accept that the technology is secure.

Note that lots of people use NFC in the form of contactless cards rather than via their phone or smartwatch.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Note that lots of people use NFC in the form of contactless cards rather that via their phone or smartwatch.

Exactly. My best friend and I go to lunch together often - usually a quick bite at a fast food place... I always pay with my watch and he pays with his credit card - he taps his card in the exact same place on the terminal that I tap my watch... it's not that he doesn't understand it, he just chooses to use a physical card... different strokes for different folks, I guess.

 

[garyjones027]

Umm...not really. That video explains HOW it works. It doesn't highlight someone's shock and amazement at it working.

In the video in 0:27, the main thing she says, 'how do they do that?'.

This is response to paying with your mobile phone or watch at the credit card machine when some people see these methods of payment in USA.

 

[michaelsanchez0027]

Exactly. My best friend and I go to lunch together often - usually a quick bite at a fast food place... I always pay with my watch and he pays with his credit card - he taps his card in the exact same place on the terminal that I tap my watch... it's not that he doesn't understand it, he just chooses to use a physical card... different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Note that lots of people use NFC in the form of contactless cards rather than via their phone or smartwatch.

In the UK, if your payment is £100 or above, then you will not be able to use the contactless feature of your debit card or credit card at the card machines. Then, you insert the debit card or credit card and enter PIN number to finish payment.

You can use your mobile phone or watch and then enter PIN number to pay at the card machines.

The same thing happens in the card machines of Ireland if your payment is €50 or above.

 

[lartola]

In the UK, if your payment is £100 or above, then you will not be able to use the contactless feature of your debit card or credit card. Then, you insert the debit card or credit card and enter PIN number. You can still use your mobile phone or watch to pay and then enter PIN number.

The same thing is true in Ireland if your payment is your payment is €50 or above.

Likewise in Mexico. Contactless cards are limited to transactions under 400 mxn (~€20) or 1000 mxn (~€50) depending on the POS. For more, you can either insert you card and enter pin or tap with your mobile phone or watch (which will either ask for a signature or not ask for anything, but won’t ask for the pin). And then there are also a few businesses where the limit is applied to everything contactless without distinction.

 

[MisterSavage]

In the video in 0:27, the main thing she says, 'how do they do that?'.

This is response to paying with your mobile phone or watch at the credit card machine when some people see these methods of payment in USA.

Honestly it sounds like she's directing that comment at the non-tech savvy people. A few years ago I could buy many people being shocked by it but it's commonplace now to pay with Apple Pay in the USA. I can't remember the last time someone expressed surprise when I did it, and it used to happen a lot.

 

[Böhme417]

In the UK, if your payment is £100 or above, then you will not be able to use the contactless feature of your debit card or credit card at the card machines. Then, you insert the debit card or credit card and enter PIN number to finish payment.

You can use your mobile phone or watch and then enter PIN number to pay at the card machines.

The same thing happens in the card machines of Ireland if your payment is €50 or above.

This either doesn’t apply to US-issued cards or to Apple Pay transactions, because I’ve definitely used Apple Pay for transactions over £100.

 

[garyjones027]

This either doesn’t apply to US-issued cards or to Apple Pay transactions, because I’ve definitely used Apple Pay for transactions over £100.

In the UK for payments above £100 and in Ireland for payments above €50, the card machines lock the NFC feature of physical cards but not the NFC features of mobile phones and watches.

Then, you need to insert the physical debit card or physical credit card and enter PIN number to complete payment.

For mobile phones and watches, you can still use NFC features which are Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay. Then, you enter PIN number to complete payment.

 

[echopulse]

In the video in 0:27, the main thing she says, 'how do they do that?'.

This is response to paying with your mobile phone or watch at the credit card machine when some people see these methods of payment in USA.

Yes, some people are suprised when they learn about mobile wallets, but very few anymore. Now most people already know about it. A lot has changed in the last 4 years. As far as acceptance, only 4 of the top 100 retailers do not accept it.

 

[lartola]

This either doesn’t apply to US-issued cards or to Apple Pay transactions, because I’ve definitely used Apple Pay for transactions over £100.

It doesn’t apply to apple pay, that was clearly said. I don’t know, however, if the US has any caps for contactless cards. If there are, they’re set by the merchants or their payment processors, not by the card issuers.

 

[echopulse]

This was posted in a Home Depot Subreddit. It's an unknown source, but Gosh I hope this is true.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeDepot/comments/1b54zl6/_/kt74b5r
If this happens, there won't be any stores I shop at regularly that don't take Apple Pay!