You’ve been able to pay for things with your mobile phone for several years, but most people still pay with plastic. That might change: Apple Pay brought mobile payments into the spotlight, and it may result in a lot more phone tapping at cash registers.
Why would you want to pay with your phone? Aside from just being cool, there are several practical reasons. Security is one of them: mobile payment tools can provide more security than traditional magnetic-stripe cards, which are (although this benefit will diminish as chip-and-PIN cards take over).
You also might find it easier to pay by phone; if you’re like most people, you’ll have your phone on you – so you can get a lot done without carrying cash or multiple cards.
How do you pay by phone? Assuming you want your phone to replace your current method of spending with debit and credit cards (and occasionally cash) at brick-and-mortar locations, this page will tell you how to do it. But there are other ways to make electronic payments with your phone. For example, you might want to send money to friends or pay a contractor – and those individuals don’t have payment terminals for credit cards or tap-to-pay. Those types of mobile payment tools are listed here: To make payments you’ll need a phone with Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities. NFC lets your phone communicate with the merchant’s payment terminal by radio waves. Popular devices with NFC include:
If you’re not sure if your phone works with NFC, check the manual or search through the phone’s Settings.
to spend with your phone, you’ll need to store payment information in your mobile wallet.
That means loading credit or debit card information into the wallet (usually by typing it in or taking a photo of the card) or linking the wallet to another payment account. Popular mobile wallets include
- Apple Pay, which features a payment system that keeps merchants from seeing your personal and financial details
- Google Wallet, which is available on numerous affordable devices
- Softcard, which is available as an app, works with merchant loyalty programs, and can turn some non-NFC devices into NFC phones with a special case
- Wallet for Windows Phone, for Windows Phone users
NFC terminal: all of this only works when a merchant can accept payments from your mobile phone. Some places don’t have the right terminals installed for cashiers (at least not yet), and they might not know how to accept mobile payments even if they have the equipment.