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These are the major US retailers that accept Apple Pay
Apple Pay is more secure than your debit card. Here's who accepts it and who does not
Apple Pay is everywhere. Restaurants, stores, and gas stations have the Apple logo next to their payment terminals, inviting iPhone users to tap their devices and be on with their day. Google Pay is less ubiquitous in the United States, but NFC technology means even the cheapest Android phones can use Apple Pay terminals. So how does it work, and who accepts Apple Pay in the United States?
Apple caves on NFC exclusivity, but don't expect Google Wallet for iPhone anytime soon
European Union regulators could change how Apple manages payment options
Near-field communication (NFC) has changed the way we use our phones, allowing us to connect them wirelessly to other devices. Since NFC functionality started being integrated into phones, the option to make purchases through NFC-based payment methods has altered how we shop. Apple has managed to keep the NFC feature on the iPhone somewhat limited to developers — specifically, those looking to create alternatives to Apple Pay. Now, European Union (EU) regulators are questioning the move, which is being viewed by some as an attempt to stifle competition.
What is Apple Pay Later?
Apple Pay Later lets you borrow for interest-free payment scheduling. Here's how it all works
Apple Pay is Apple's digital wallet and payment system for hands-free payments with the swipe of an iPhone. Google Wallet lets you do something similar with an Android phone. In 2023, Apple added a feature called Apple Pay Later. It lets you defer costs over a period of time.
How to remove old boarding passes and credit cards from Apple Wallet
Old passes cluttering up your Apple Wallet? Here's how to get rid of them permanently
Apple's Wallet is a one-stop iPhone destination for all kinds of payment and pass information. That can include quick payments at stores, transportation passes of all kinds, and tickets. But as time goes by, some passes and payments in the Apple Wallet can grow outdated. That leads to clutter and potentially some security hazards, so it makes sense to clear anything you don't need out of the Wallet.
Google and Apple close loophole that was letting Russians use payment services
Tech giants have been shutting down options since Russia invaded Ukraine in February
In 2014 Russia annexed Crimea and NATO nations retaliated with economic sanctions. This prompted the Central Bank of Russia to establish Mir cards, a national payment system linked to 150 banks in the Russian Federation. Cut to eight years later, another invasion, this time of Ukraine itself. Even stronger sanctions loomed, but Russians could still use Mir cards for normal online purchases if they'd tied them to an Apple or Google Pay account — until now.
The two things I'd change about Apple Pay after using it for a week
A couple tweaks would make it the ultimate mobile payment platform
I admit it: I was a mobile payment naysayer for years. I always felt that the conversation around tap to pay was a lot of rigamarole — after all, how hard is it to get out your wallet? But, as credit card terminals slowly evolved around the US, so too did my troglodytian attitude about them. I had my phone out when I was in line to check out regardless most of the time, so why not? And then, the whole last year... happened. Mobile payments went from a passive preference to a very active one for me, and many more businesses here in the States that had lagged behind adoption finally ponied up for contactless. Even gas stations — where ancient magstripe readers have remained stubbornly dominant — in my experience, by and large now offer NFC here in California.
Google Pay has some great functionality on its own, allowing you to import credit cards and related information, but it lacks native support for pkpass files, a file type used for things like passes in Apple Wallet. The app Pass2Pay solves that problem, allowing users to import pkpass files into Google Pay in a snap.
In a truly red letter day, Target has announced that it is, finally, going to support contactless payments at checkout. Long, long overdue, this news obviously means that you can use Google, Samsung, and Apple Pay, as well as NFC cards, at the payment terminals.
The Starbucks app allows customers to pay for their caffeine fix and earn rewards points for subsequent coffee runs without using cash or a card. It only works at Starbucks, obviously. Despite the fact that payments through Google Pay and Apple Pay are now accepted at more than half of US merchants (and more than 80 percent take Samsung Pay), the Starbucks app is currently the most popular mobile payments platform—and it's projected to stay that way.
If you have a Chase Freedom credit card and you like free money, you will want to take advantage of their latest quarterly cash back offer. In addition to some of their usual categories of bonus points purchases — in this case, gas stations and cable/internet service — any purchases via mobile wallets will earn you 5% cash back.
Samsung and Apple take swipes at each other. The two companies are sort of like mobile carriers in that regard. It surprises precisely no one to see them bickering this many years after taking one another to court (something they're still doing, by the way).
Wallet has to be pretty frustrating for Google. They beat Apple to the punch by quite a long time, but the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus basically introduced the lay public to mobile payments. How did this happen? Insert the tired cliches about Apple's control over hardware and software here. More interesting is what Google will do, considering how much they still have to gain by getting more adoption of their Apple Pay competitor.