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Banks and Credit Unions to Team Up Against Apple Pay Fees

127 points · 133 comments · Brajeshwar

  1. havaloc · · focus · HN ↗
    I get why the banks are not happy, but I can tell them that I am not going to use Chase Wallet, Bank of America Wallet, Citi Wallet...just pay the fee and be thankful for the reduced payment friction, which they invariably make money from. PS: Nobody is going to use Paze (yet another half baked wallet), other than to collect the free $10 to sign up for it.

    Somewhat related, even Walmart relented and now supports Apple Pay/Contactless. Every big merchant has now relented (Kroger, Home Depot, Walmart).

    1. kotaKat · · focus · HN ↗
      Walmart only relented because they finally broke through the final missing link of the contactless issue. They got customers conned into giving their phone numbers at checkout, just like it's the grocery store.

      Cards get linked to accounts automatically behind the scenes based on first6/last4 card number tracking, then everyone else self-selects to punch their phone number on the screen.

      Same reason Walmart Radio is such gruesome auditory cancer, it's part of the data collection and advertising vehicle.

      1. havaloc · · focus · HN ↗
        That could be part of the reason, but also I think insisting on chip all this time just really slows down a store that doesn't really spend on cashiering all that much. Tap to pay can shave off a few seconds on every transaction (ever been behind someone in the store who finally pulls out their wallet, finds the business end of their card, inserts it, waits 20 seconds...).

        Millions of transactions a day, over thousands of stores, it can make a huge difference in time saved.

        1. massysett · · focus · HN ↗
          This is even worse now that tap to pay has proliferated. Customers who are not Walmart regulars (and some that are) will wave their credit card, phone, or watch over the terminal and wonder why it’s not working.

          Cashier must explain: No tap. Best case is the customer shrugs and inserts card. Bad case is the customer is confused or argues about it. Horrible case is that the customer must fish through his belongings for a credit card or cash and takes minutes to realize he has neither.

          I guess Walmart figured that these scenes repeating daily was not worth whatever its strategy was.

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