Believe it or not, mobile NFC-enabled wallets are turning 15 years old this year (2022). As a distributor for NFC compatible technology, Tx Systems, Inc. has been watching the evolution of mobile payments since 2007, when the first mobile wallet solutions were launched in the real world. Payment via mobile wallets are still the most commonly utilized NFC-enabled application to date, however, there are plenty of people out there that have never used their phone for purchases. As we head into the new year, mobile payment adoption will continue to rise. Are you ready? 

HOW TO USE APPLE PAY NFC

* Easier than the iPhone User Guide from Apple Support*

Apple Pay has been live for over five years now and the iPhone has seen its transformation from a legendary smartphone in 2007 to a complete mobile wallet in 2022! Look out leather wallet and cash ! Think about how the Apple Wallet can store both your credit and debit cards? Even plastic is starting to become obsolete.  

The proof is in the swipes though. Over 500 million iPhone users have decided to use Apply Pay for their day-to-day buys using NFC communication to avoid having to touch germ laden cash. This was especially considering that 2020 was a year of extreme germaphobia. That 500 million turns out to be 51% of iPhone users which coincides with a 9% growth in total iPhone users. If you thought that was a large amount of NFC use, then take a look at Google Pay with 150 million mobile wallet users. Surprising, Google has not taken the reign even with 72.2% of users worldwide owning an Android phone over iOS. Although that could be attributed to the lower cost of Android phones over the more prestigious iPhone which would allow for more widespread adoption. However, Samsung has notably been able to put itself in the U.S. market against the iPhone releasing its extremely popular Samsung Galaxy line of phones which fall under the higher end side of the smartphone market.

It seems that Google Pay may have taken a bit of Samsung Pay’s thunder even with Samsung using Android which is owned by Google. Samsung Pay falls in last with 14.7 million users of their mobile wallet. Both Google Pay and Samsung Pay operate in the same fashion with the ability to use credit/debit cards through the app to pay at select locations. Biometrics are incorporated into the phones for authentication purposes. Not surprisingly, Samsung Pay is not supported on iOS but is supported on Android-based devices. To note on Google Pay, users are able to incorporate bank accounts to their accounts for a CashApp money sharing feature along with PayPal. Could the previous lawsuit be at play here or does intense rivalry play a factor? Read here about the lawsuit regarding intellectual property violations from UC Irvine.

If you are taken aback by all those millions of mobile payment users and NFC use is a head scratcher then you might need some more background on NFC communication. We’ve got your covered! To find out what the heck NFC even means and other AMAZING uses besides pay, take a look here which we describe NFC communication and its various applications. Although, Apple Pay is not the only NFC mobile payment app out there. Google Pay and Samsung Pay have had NFC capabilities for years now, most retailers and restaurants in the US have steadily been adopting NFC contactless payments. This is even more the case since 2020 when the general public became afraid of spreading COVID-19. With more than 67% of U.S. retailers accepting Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay, it’s obvious that we will be seeing more and more mobile payments in the future. Even with widespread adoption of NFC contactless payments, you might be wondering if it is safe? Well, why wouldn’t you? You are not actually seeing cash change hands, so it is literally up in the air as to where it is going. 

The answer is Yes!  Arguments for mobile payments tout that they are far more secure than mag-stripe or even EMV chip & pin credit cards. The most widely known area of card skimming is at the gas station where criminals place their own readers over the actual terminal. From the magstrip, they are able to read the name, credit card number and expiration date. Experian warns credit card users on their blog of card skimming and shimming. With this information, criminals can then go on their own shopping spree. Even, EMV-based cards can be read by criminals through a newer method called shimming as spoken on by Experian which includes a card reader attached with a memory card to track card information. Luckily, CVV numbers have not been read which means that purchases will be limited. That is why NFC-enabled payments are the safest method to do so. Apple Pay securely uses a unique device ID for payments instead of credit card numbers.  This makes it far more difficult for cyber criminals to sniff out credit card numbers between a payment terminal and a POS system, because no credit card number is being passed over the air.  With many of the data breaches over the last year generally resulting in stolen credit card numbers, this can mitigate the problem as merchants only see the device ID, not account numbers.

So, with this in mind, your interest level may have increased because of its safety and convenience. No more reaching for your traditional wallet with hard cash. The Apple Wallet app that stores your debit and credit card information is native to the iPhone which means not having to visit the App Store on your iPhone. Luckily, it is free and easy to use to iPhone users. 

Now you are ready to wave that Apple Pay at whatever store accepts NFC mobile payments! Heck, the majority of U.S. retailers have adopted NFC contactless payments. So wherever you go, you will more than likely run into one at a POS terminal. For example, Target has adopted mobile NFC payments in 2019 with support for Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay which includes support for wearable devices to be able to pay. The terminal will then provide options during the transaction to select payment methods with Tap. If you want to use Apple Pay at the grocery store then go check out Albertsons which has adopted support for Apple Pay through their just for U app in 2020 for both credit and debit amount. 

So, where have you used Apple Pay when you’ve gone shopping or eating out? Or, are you a Samsung or Google Pay user? No rivalries here for Android or Apple users here! If so, then don’t despair because we have you covered with a Samsung and Google Pay easy and ultimate guide for all. These will be introduced in following blog posts. 

Tx Systems is your NFC Knowledgebase!

At Tx Systems, we have dedicated our lives to understanding and educating people on the use of NFC communication for payment systems, loyalty applications, and just good old awesome technology applications. Tx Systems offers all sorts of NFC-enabled tags and readers for a wide variety of industries. If you have any questions about NFC mobile payments and the general way it can be used, or if you have an idea that you would like our professional consulting team to advise upon, please don’t hesitate to call us at 858-622-2004 and ask for an NFC expert today or email us at sales@txsystems.com.

This blog post was a collaboration between Eric Gregg, Carl Hughes and Rebecca Drexler.