The Pros and Cons of Using Apple Pay
Fast, secure phone payments with some real limits
Apple Pay lets you pay for things with an iPhone, Apple Watch, or other Apple device. It's quick and well secured. It also doesn't work everywhere, or for everyone.
Whether it suits you depends mostly on the phone you own, the shops you use, and your bank. Below are the main advantages and drawbacks.
Pros
These are the main reasons people choose Apple Pay.
Convenience
With Apple Pay you pay with your iPhone or Apple Watch, so there's no searching through a wallet for the right card, and on many days no need to carry a wallet at all. Several cards can be stored on the device, and a payment is confirmed with a touch or a glance. The same method works in shops, inside apps, and online. Checkout usually gets a bit quicker as a result.
Strong security
Two features do most of the work. Tokenization replaces your card number with a unique code for each transaction, so your real card details stay hidden from the merchant. On top of that, nearly every payment has to be approved with Face ID, your fingerprint or your passcode. Together these make fraud harder and keep your payment information confidential, and many users find that reassuring when they buy something.
Contactless and hygienic
Because the phone or watch only has to be held near the terminal, you don't touch a keypad or hand over a card. For people who have become more careful about hygiene in recent years, that matters. Fewer shared surfaces probably means fewer germs passed around, though for most people hygiene will be a side benefit and not the main reason to switch.
Works with loyalty and rewards programs
Apple Pay connects with loyalty and rewards programs from participating merchants and banks. Within the app you can collect and redeem rewards, get cashback, and use special offers. How much that is worth depends heavily on which shops you use and which bank issued your card. Where it applies, though, it adds a little value to purchases you were going to make anyway.
Wide acceptance
You can use Apple Pay at a large number of shops, restaurants, transit systems, and apps in many countries, and support keeps spreading to new countries and industries. For travelers that's handy, since the same phone works the same way at home and abroad. People who stay put benefit too, because they can use it in more and more places close to home.
Part of the shift to mobile wallets
Apple Pay is one of the services behind the growing use of mobile wallets, where you pay without carrying cards or cash. As more people pay this way, the whole payment system tends to get simpler and more efficient, which helps both shoppers and businesses. Apple Pay benefits from that trend and pushes it along at the same time.
Fits the Apple ecosystem
If you already use other Apple products, Apple Pay fits in easily. It connects with services such as Siri and iMessage, which makes paying quick and fairly intuitive for people who use those every day. For anyone outside the Apple world, this advantage counts for little.
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Cons
Most of the drawbacks come down to where, and on what, Apple Pay works.
Not every merchant accepts it
Apple Pay is accepted in many places, but not everywhere. Some merchants don't take it, especially smaller businesses and shops in certain regions. In those cases you still need a card or cash, so it's sensible to keep another way to pay with you.
Needs compatible devices and terminals
You need a compatible Apple device, such as an iPhone, Apple Watch, or Mac, and in stores the merchant needs a terminal with NFC. If either is missing, Apple Pay simply doesn't work. People without the right device, or who live where NFC terminals are scarce, will find it hard to use for their everyday payments.
Battery and connectivity problems
Apple Pay depends on your device, and your device depends on its battery. A phone that has died can't pay for anything. Poor network coverage can occasionally cause trouble as well, depending on the kind of payment you're making. These failures are probably rare. When they do happen, you'll be glad of a backup card.
Privacy and data storage
Apple says it takes user privacy seriously. Even so, some people are uneasy about their payment and transaction data being stored and handled within Apple's ecosystem. If data protection matters a lot to you, read the privacy policy and find out how Apple Pay manages your data before you add your cards.
Depends on your bank
Apple Pay only works when your bank supports it. Card issuance, which banks have partnered with Apple, and regional differences in banking services all affect whether you can use it and how well it works. So whether your card works can come down to nothing more than the bank that issued it.
Easier to overspend
Paying with a tap is easy, and that can become a problem. Without cash or a card in your hand, spending may feel less real, which can make impulse purchases more tempting. For people who already struggle to stick to a budget, that ease could do real damage to their finances over time.
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No use without Apple devices
Apple Pay runs only on Apple devices. If you have an Android phone or another non-Apple device, you can't use it at all, which leaves out a large share of smartphone users. For them, none of the advantages above are available.
Missing a con?
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Conclusion
If you own an iPhone, check two things first: whether your bank supports Apple Pay, and whether the shops you visit most have NFC terminals. When both are true, trying it costs you little, and a card in your pocket covers the places that don't accept it.
What do you think?
Do you think the pros outweigh the cons?
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