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Comment by maffydub | Hacker News Reader

I'm not sure you need every merchant - I think you only need a significant proportion of the merchants that a specific population use.

I probably make most of my purchases with a very small group of retailers - for example, in terms of number (not value) of transactions, the sandwich shop by my work and the corner shop by my house probably account for 80% of my offline transactions. (I go to the supermarket about once a week, and although I tend to buy more, that's all in a single transaction.)

If you could sign up those merchants, and give me a compelling reason (convenience, discounts, rewards) to use your payment app, it might not matter that I couldn't use your payment app on those rare occasions that I go shopping somewhere else.

Just a thought. (I'm not in the payment industry.)

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Local shops all accept contactless payment though, which is faster than anything involving a smart phone could ever be. You literally just hover your debit card near the terminal and you're done, no pin, no signing[* ], it's quicker than unlocking a phone.

[* ] I've only once in my life ever had to sign for a transaction, it's not a common method, I just mention it here because I know some countries still use it.

Yes - I wonder about that every time I see an ad for Apple Pay or some other payment app. Contactless is rapidly becoming the default, so how do you compete with it?

By only requiring the customer to carry one device.

ApplePay actually works on contactless payment terminals. Since it has multi-factor authentication, you could potentially make larger transactions using it than you can with contactless cards. In practice that doesn't usually work yet because most payment terminals don't know that they can accept a larger limit from some payment devices.

If your phone can do everything that your card can do (and a lot more!), why carry the card?

My card never needs recharging. I don't use phone payment but if I did I would still have the card as backup.

I may just be being a luddite but there are 3 or 4 cards I like to have with me along with a little cash. I go back and forth whether it's worth carrying an actual wallet or not. I don't want to be in a situation where, if something happens to my phone (including running out of juice), that I have absolutely nothing else on me.

(I also print out airline boarding passes unless it's not convenient to do so for some reason. I'm not fanatical about it, but if it's just 30 seconds of effort, I figure that I might as well.)

Most people have their phone more easily to hand than a card, which needs to be extracted from a wallet or purse. So in practice Apple Pay is often faster and more convenient.

It's also more secure because you're authenticated by the fingerprint scanner, and it's anonymous.

Apple Pay is often faster and more convenient

There have been several times I've got stuck behind someone using their Apple phone to get through the gates on the London Underground and have noticed two or three people get through the gates on either side in the same time as the one with the Apple phone. And it isn't just me - according to http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/16/tfl-cautio... the iPhone "has led to irate commuters and queues at the gates".

People on the Tube using Apple Pay need to realise that you can do the Touch ID authorisation before reaching the ticket gates.

The transaction will stay authorised for a couple of minutes, at least, and then the gates will open nearly instantly when you put your phone near the sensor.

This isn't an issue for using Apple Pay via the Apple Watch, since that device skips the Touch ID requirement (instead, it will de-authorise if you take it off your wrist).

>and it's anonymous.

no it's not.

I wonder about that every time I see an ad for Apple Pay or some other payment app. Contactless is rapidly becoming the default, so how do you compete with it?

Apple Pay doesn't really compete with Contactless - they are the same thing! Any merchant that accepts contactless therefore accepts Apple Pay as well, whether they advertise it or not. (Here in the UK, at least)

Apple Pay is a bit more secure because transactions are authenticated with your fingerprint via Touch ID, and the merchant gets a special device card number rather than your real card number. But as far as the payment terminal knows it's just like any regular contactless card.

Whether it's more convenient to take your contactless card out of your pocket/wallet, or use an Apple Pay device is a matter for debate. I find that I usually already have my phone in my hand while standing in a checkout line, so I pay with that rather than fumbling for my card.

I was just thinking "contactless payment", right after I did a Google search for the "innovative" CueCat.

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