What about loyalty cards? You still need your wallet to caryy them and I know that some people can not go without their loyalty cards.

I know that in theory Apple wallet can hold loyalty cards, but surly that is going to me time wasting looking for the card on the phone. Also from what I have been reading the big companies behind loyalty cards are not even looking at having their cards stored in the apple wallet.

I would feel lost without my wallet to be honest, now my phone is a different thing as long as I know that I left it at home it do not bother me.


When I was younger I used to think the cashless society would be a good thing, the thought of not carrying cash and just paying everything by say a touch of your finger. But over the years I have gone off the idea, mainly as there is too much tracking going on and too many companies and the government wants to know what you are doing. It is right as well, computers you are tracked by different companies, phones you are tracked, keep location switched on and it is pretty scary. Now the government wants to store every ones phone calls and internet usage. It is a good job we still do have cash.

Well they don't have chip and pin.

When you pay for something with a card in the US you sign your signature on a screen. They've been arguing about whether to go with chip and pin for years. Last I heard, chip and signature is coming soon. At the moment they're still using the magnetic strip.


I didn't think for a second you were making it up. I was just saying that's not my experience, at all.

They're supposed to move over this year to Chip&PIN, the technology is known as EMV after the companies that invented it (Europay/Mastercard/Visa). Some banks in the US are issuing Chip cards, but the tills aren't fully ready yet, so some places are Chip & Sign - which is very odd.

The EMV deadline for the US is October 2015, after that date the liability for fraud moves to the retailer instead of the bank if they still use the old systems. This is a _lot_ of money, so it is in the retailers interest to update their tills.

http://www.paymentsleader.com/will-r...v-by-oct-2015/

All my loyalty cards are in the Thin Wallet app on my phone.. Works great!

McDonalds? So a pretty good chance the "highly experienced" till operative pushed the wrong button at some stage.

Probably wouldn't have been worth asking for a supervisor either, it would be doubtful if they would have have had any override authority either. I had thought you meant at a proper retailer with real (qualified) staff.

I've had this the three times I've tried it at McDonald's - each time it asked me for a PIN check. Fortunately each time I had my wallet with me. I've had this in the past using my regular Amex contactless card - it always seemed to ask for a PIN check. Seemed to stop after a while but I think it is an Amex / McDonald's thing rather than an Apple Pay issue. The only other place I've tried Apple Pay so far was M&S which worked fine.


Not the case - McDonald's is a proper Apple Pay retailer but can still get hit with the PIN check. Had it twice at a self-service order touch screen and once at a drive thru.

Sounds like the till hasn't properly recognised it as Apple Pay rather than Contactless.

Apple Pay should not get the PIN check ever. The fingerprint authentication is equal (actually better).

Apple Pay can actually hold loyalty cards now. I just don't think it's happening in the UK yet I know a few places in the U.S. Are doing it one of my friends has his donut loyalty card on it sort of works but requires iOS 9 which is still in beta stages but come autumn it should be reliable then just requires store support.

I'm in London this weekend. I was a bit scared to use Apple Pay yesterday but tried it today. Basically, I would recommend opening Passbook and authenticating using the home button before you approach the gates. If you do this, the gates open pretty much instantly, the same as using an Oyster or contactless card. If you just hold the locked phone over the reader with your thumb on the home button, it takes maybe four seconds to complete the process. Obviously that's pretty quick, but it definitely doesn't feel it with a queue of people behind you expecting to get through without any delay at all!

lol I bet 4 seconds felt like 4 minutes with all the tutting going on behind you. Commuters have zero patience in London.

How do you preauthorise a card before you get there? Is it certain cards only?

Cards from Natwest, American Express, Nationwide, MBNA, Royal Bank Of Scotland and Santander can be registered at the moment.

As IslandNiles said, open Passbook and hold your finger on the Touch ID before tapping to preauthorise.

Thankfully that will change with iOS9 when you will just need to double tap the home button to open Apple Pay. How much is it per trip using Apple Pay? Is it cheaper than buying a Travel Card or Oyster Card or more expensive?

It works in exactly the same way as a contactless card. Contactless cards work just like Oyster, so you basically end up paying the best fare providing you tap in and out using the same device. So, you need to tap in and out using the phone if you want it to calculate the fare correctly.

single-trip prices are the same whether you use Oyster, contactless card or Apple Pay (and all benefit from price capping )

what you can't do yet is add a weekly or longer travelcard to a contactless card, which is the cheapest way to travel regularly.

One thing that might be surprising to non-Londoners is that since last April you can't pay for a bus fare with cash.

You have to use an Oyster card or a contactless card (or Apple pay/pay on tap/bpay etc)

Interesting thanks.

That is crazy must cause confusion to tourists I don't even think the buses round by me even accept contactless never mind only contactless.

Most European countries you pay and get a ticket or swipe card before you board. Just in London you can use either their ticket Oyster or your own contactless card.

From what I have been told by people that live there most places will be chip and signature. But yes the cards will all have chips in them by that deadline. In the WSJ article below it says that banks CAN choose to issue cards that require a PIN instead of a signature. But the feeling is that they won't, so for consumers actually it'll be business as usual really.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-234B-3681

Yes, using contactless, nothing is charged until the middle of the night, when they tot up what journeys you have made, and cap the charge (if applicable) at what a Travelcard etc would have cost for the day.

Contactless is better than Oyster, because you don't need to keep topping up, and of course for occasional users, end up with unused credit (though it never expires)

If you register your contactless card on Oyster's web portal, you can then see and download detailed statements, but you don't need to register a card to travel.

Of course there is the issue that you can't add a railcard discount to a contactless card (or anything similar like Apple Pay) so using contactless etc would cost you more if you currently have an Oyster card with a railcard discoubt applied.

How do that work then? Loyalty cards to not work with NFC, so I presume you have to take a picture of the barcode, which means having to hand the phone over to the cashier.

I only got one loyalty card myself and that is cardboard one from a local coffee bar, that is stamped when ever I have a coffee. Like Neros do.

Ok I do have a Iceland one, which is only used to save money on and to have my food delivered.
My energy company gives me points on a nectar card I do not have, which is strange.,

I know Apple pay can hold loyalty cards, my cousin been trying to extract the Urine about us only just having Apple pay in this country, until I reminded her that we have had contactless for years and chip and pin for even longer, while they still have to sign and she said that she can put Loyalty cards on Apple pay. But she thinks it takes longer than using a normal loyalty card.,