You know where Apple Pay is getting used a LOT? Yes - McDonalds Half of all McDonald's US touch purchase transactions are now made using Apple Pay, the fast food giant has announced. You'd think Apple fans would be more likely to buy trendy organic nosh at Whole Foods than walk under the Golden Arches to buy a supersize meal. But the iColytes of Cupertino are seemingly willing to do both …
Not the recession. Here in good ol 'Merica, Walmart is now one of the biggest sellers of iPhones and iPads. Can't walk into a Walley-mart without being bombarded with signage for super-sales on Apple goodies.
And you know where Bubba and Cindylou are headed once they've picked up their new shiny-shiny from Walmart? Straight to Mickey-D's for a double-bacon double-cheese BigMac, super fries and an extra large DIET Coke (got to watch those calories, you know). Fortunately for Bubba and Cindylou and their aching knees, most Walmarts in 'Merica now have a McDonalds right inside the store.
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Might this have to do with the fact that McDonalds is one of the few national chains that still takes contactless payments? Burger King dropped their support and many other chains don't even have PIN Pads. And we've heard the stories of CVS and such dropping NFC support. With so few retailers accepting NFC, McDonald's is simply sticking out. And with the big boys like Walmart staunchly against it, I doubt NFC will get much more traction barring a big development (I will note that while Walmart's betting on NFC failing--their new C&P-ready pads completely lack the capacity IINM--other retailers are hedging their bets with pads that COULD do it but have the feature turned OFF).
In North America it's way more popular. Here in Canucksville I can pay by tap at probably a third to half of the shops I visit. Canadian Superstore, 7-11, Starbucks, Wendys, HMV, etc all support pay by tap. It's supplied as standard in pretty much all new readers, but some retailers choose to turn it off.
I sauntered into the McDonalds in Milton Keynes last week and not only could I bonk n pay (not with Apple Pay being in the UK, plus not owning the new Super Sized models) but they also had Qi wireless chargers on the tables. As I merrily charged my Lumia a couple of hood rats spotted this and tried unsuccessfully to do the same with their iPhone 6s. They even complained to one of the scary clown's representatives when they couldn't tap into the wireless juice, stating that iPhones "work wirelessly now". Bless em.
And yet you'd gave us all believe that the iPhone's share is minuscule compared to android. Which is it?"
Android phones don't show up as special. They just look like a regular contactless payment, just like somebody that uses their card.
BTW, in Asia, using phones for contactless payment is apparently much more popular.
"So iPhones look 'special' and Android phones don't? Are you essentially saying that iPhones look nice and Android phones generally don't? Can I quote you on that?"
He doesn't mean their appearance, he's talking about the way they show up in the records of contactless payment systems.
But in terms of appearance, in the eyes of chavs and those who think such things matter, it's the branding, if anything, that is perceived as somehow magically 'special'.
I'm guessing NFC cards. While I have had bonking facilities for the past 2 years on my Galaxy Note, there isn't much available, at least in the UK, to actually make use of it. I can tap my Oyster card against it, and it will show me the balance on it, in the same way that it does if I load the app. It's a nice gimmick, but not actually that useful.
Even if I could bonk my phone on a ticket barrier, I probably wouldn't, because bonking a plastic card is much easier.
+1 for cards.
Even thinner than an iphone! (that may seem magical, but its true!)
Designed to bend without breaking
You can keep it in your shoe
Includes, "You're not holding it right" orientation feature.
Outperforms the iphone in drop-tests
Cheaper
Its Platinum (or so it says)
Available with any phone - such as a Nokia 3610i
Can continue making phone calls while paying for stuff
Also works at non-pay-by-bonk outlets
Can be used for transactions over $100 (Useful in a place which serves food)
Haven't eaten at a UK McD's since I was a teen, because even back then I could easily conclude it was the worst possible food I could get for my money. After moving here, a friend convinced me that NA McD's is waaaaay better and I should try it out. It isn't. It's dreadful.
You want me to eat a fast food drive-through burger? Wendys or GTFO.
Just this week I moved up to the Tokyo region, so needed to pay my train commute. Rather than spend 500 yen to buy a Suica card (Oyster equivalent) I downloaded a Suica app to my Android phone, charged 3,000 yen to my card via carrier billing, and Bobbu-san was my uncle.
Penguin as the Suica mascot is one.
If anyone wants to know why Android wallets haven't flown, let's consider Google Wallet. When it first came out, you could enter information for whatever accounts you wanted, and then go bonking. Later updates completely obfuscated access to the pay per bonk functions such that getting it up and ready took ten times longer than just whipping out a debit card. Google Wallet may well want to be many things. But the version that lives on my phone only needs one function. And that is to bonk!
"Analysts said Apple was successfully pushing mobile payments into the hands of people who might not otherwise have been interested."
In shock news, the analysts were factually correct while making a meaningless statement.
Who have Apple successfully pushed mobile payments into the hands of? Apple users who have gone for their latest shiny*.
Of those, who might not have otherwise been interested? Apple users, who previously had a shiny that couldn't be used for pay-by-bonk.
* There will undoubtedly be new Apple users of the bonkable iPhone as well, but I expect the majority use-case is users of previous models.
Years ago, well before Apple Pay came out, the only place I was able to use my American Express Blue card's NFC capability was at McDonalds. Even now, stores that accept contactless payment is limited.
(I enjoy laying my wallet on top of the credit card terminals and watch the cashier's expression. Some times they'll start to tell me that's not how to use it, only to be interrupted by the beep signaling the completed transaction)
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