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Comment by CubsFan1060 | Hacker News Reader

> But whipping out your phone sucks compared to just tapping your card against a reader.

And I’d have said whipping out my card sucks compared to using the watch that’s already on my hand. (Of course that works with my other cards as well)

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I don't really understand how whipping out your phone is harder than whipping out your card even if you don't have a watch. In my case I gave up carrying the cards at all a few years back and pay for everything on my phone anyway; the convenience of not needing a wallet or any cards at all is high.

No authentication and you’re holding out a lighter object. If the NFC terminal is further back on the counter the cashier is more comfortable taking your card and tapping it.

(I love paying via watch but I think it’s good that most cards now do the same.)

The steps to pay with Apple Pay are you have to take out your phone, double click the button on the side, confirm you want to pay, have it scan your face or do a fingerprint scan, then hold the phone waiting for it to confirm "client side" - plus Apple Pay isn't as widely supported as the "tap to pay" method which has a simple logo you can look for without having to discuss it with the cashier.

Whipping out a much smaller, lighter rectangle and simply tapping it on the reader and putting it back in your pocket takes less than a second

I thought that Apple Pay is always accepted at the same places where you can tap to pay. Is there a difference? This mentions it can be used anywhere that the contactless payments symbol is.

https://support.apple.com/en-lamr/guide/iphone/iphbd4cf42b4/...

I'd considered not wearing my apple watch every few weeks then I remember how cool it is to hop in the car, forget my phone and wallet and still be able to pay for things.

Or being able to pay for stuff at resorts/pools without worrying about losing my card.

Apple Pay is the killer app for the watch for sure.

I absolutely love paying via my watch. Only issues I have had is related to random “card updates” which delay the process a bit. Happens maybe once or twice in 2-3 month span.

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