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Comment by 1123581321 | Hacker News Reader

If I’m not sure, I say “Apple Pay okay?” to the cashier first in what I hope is a friendly way. Sometimes they’re not sure and will say, “you can try,” and then it feels more okay to give it a shot.

Feeling rude happens because when you suddenly produce your phone or watch, you suddenly reveal you’ve been thinking of the transaction differently and maybe that the cashier was incorrect or ignorant to assume you would swipe your card. You are unmasking yourself, in a sense. Proactively mentioning it lets them work with you and share their knowledge about the terminal if it’s relevant.

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Sometimes, the cashier says "not ok" despite being "ok".

I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. This is a thing that happens. Usually because the cashier hasn't been trained.

These days I don't generally need to ask because the terminal have very conspicuous Apple Pay logos on them. But sometimes the terminal is kept behind the counter, so you can't see.

I've had several occasions (most recently at my vet) where I was told that it wouldn't work and I said, "Let's try it anyway," and it worked just fine.

Yes, I’ve had this happen and usually I just assent and pull out a card. Since I’ve just asked to avoid feeling rude, I’m probably not going to try Apple Pay in defiance of them.

When I’ve thought Apple Pay would have actually worked in that kind of situation, I try it next time I’m there (without asking first!)

In my experience, some small businesses avoid Apple Pay/Google Pay because you can add American Express cards to them, and they want to not accept Amex cards in order to save on the fee, despite the service agreement of their payment processor obligating them to.

I don't think it's possible to have a PoS terminal that doesn't accept physical Amex cards but that does accept Amex cards via Apple/Google Pay.

A post-it note that says "American Express not accepted" is probably deterrent enough, rather than a technical solution.

I just try it. And if it doesn’t work I swap for a card and grumble to myself how it’s almost the future.

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