Apple Pay system is not an automatic system, therefore, to be able to use it, you must change first some settings on your Apple device.
7 Tips for before using Apple Pay:
1) Before you can use Apple Pay, you must upgrade your operating system to iOS v8.1.
Apple hasn't created a notification on the phone indicating an upgrade is available. It must be installed before you can set up Apple Pay. As Ms. Baird, the woman who demonstrates the process, pointed out:
"I read a rumor somewhere that the iOS 8.1 update - critical for enabling Apple Pay - would release at 11am Mountain Time, so promptly at 11am I checked for an update and there it was. I downloaded it, installed it, and about twenty minutes later was ready to add cards."
2) Apple Pay requires some setup.
You can find the setup for Apple Pay in the Passbook application. If you want to use the same method of payment you're already using to buy items from iTunes, there's not too much to do beyond entering your 3 or 4 digit security code.
Ms. Baird made a really interesting observation about setting up her Chase card. Pretty cool stuff:
"Next , I added my Chase debit card. Chase has been less proactive in their communications....But I was easily able to add the card. In fact, you can just take a picture of the card and it automatically captures the card number and expiration date, as well as the name on the card. Then you have to enter the security code from the back in order to activate the card."
Important note: Co-branded store cards are not acceptable methods of payment. No Red cards, no Macy's cards, just traditional card processors like MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express. Business accounts are also not ready for prime time yet, according to Ms. Baird.
3) Set up your index fingers as additional identifiers.
If your phone gives you way too many "Try again's" after using your thumb because it's quite big, try using the index finger next time.
4) Before checking out, make sure the line you're on is "Apple Pay enabled."
Ms. Baird waited on a ten-person deep line at her local Panera before she got ready to pay and discovered that line was not enabled. Rather than start over, she just used her credit card.
5) Before leaving your credit card at home, make sure that the store you're headed to is really accepting Apple Pay.
Whole Foods Market provided Ms. Baird's positive Apple Pay experience.
"I was in luck! Upgraded card capture device, with a little topper explaining Apple Pay. The cashier rang up my purchases. I held my phone up to the NFC reader and put my finger on the fingerprint scanner on my phone. Before the cashier could even ask her question: "Oh, are you going to use Apple Pay?" - the transaction was completed. Turns out I was her first customer to use pay that way. And let me tell you, it was fast and oh-so-easy."
7) How many People are Using It?
That covers the opening day spectrum. Expect to see banks and card processors giving consumers some real incentives to start using electronic wallets. I'll go through some of those reasons in my next piece.
Certainly if Ms. Baird is right, and it works as quickly and easily as it sounds, it could become the holiday shopping equivalent of TSA pre-check...which is a holiday gift all its own.
However, some problems regarding the service are inevitable, and you should expect more for changes to occur.
