Comment by dangus | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dangus | Hacker News Reader

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I've noticed this year that a lot of card system vendors have updated their software to enable contactless on their card machines. I actually use my contactless card all over the place in the US, and I was even shocked and surprised to see that the MARC vending machines in Baltimore/DC supporting contactless to buy train tickets.

The number of US customers actually receiving the cards and being trained to use them is very low, and that's a problem.

As an aside, I actually like plain contactless better than Apple Pay. It's overall a faster transaction, no fussing with phone unlocks. I don't really care whether or not it's more or less secure - that's my bank's problem, not mine.

I’m a fan of my Apple Watch for that. Quicker than getting a phone out, no need to unlock, and I always have it even without my wallet.

I have an Apple Watch, weirdly I don't find myself doing that a lot. Something about turning the screen around and being unable to see it. Although I think the newer watch versions have a better interface that comes up quicker. I might want to try using it more often.

Still, you have to admit that having a $400 watch as a barrier vs. a card that my bank gave me for free is a bit of an advantage toward the contactless card.

For sure, it's just a convenient feature if you already have one. If you haven't used it, the flow is:

    1) Double press the side button (not the crown)
    2) Put watch on reader

Optionally you can swipe left/right to change which card you're using, but it's immediately ready to go with the default one.

Same. Basically anyone with a newer Veriphone system (which everyone seemed to roll out back when we switched to chip) seems to support it. I use Google Pay, so it's not Apple-specific anyhow. But it's so much faster to process than the chip cards, even if I already had both my phone and card in my hand.

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