Stupid Question - Wtf Is Google/Samsung/Apple Pay?

i have a card, that i can tap to pay. i also have a phone with com bank app and NFC turned on. and with both of those two, i can tap and pay for ANYTHING. no extra apps or add ons needed.
so what is this apple, android, whatever tap pay i keep hearing about, why do i need it? what do they do differently?..

Comments

  • +1

    commbank doesnt support it

    • +1

      it dosent support it because it dosent need it for it to work?. then why do they exist if they are not needed?

      • +5

        You don't need the other pay options because you're with Commbank and they developed their own tap and pay function.

        The other options exist because not everyone is with Commbank and not every bank wants to develop their own tap and pay function.

        • thank you, i thought all banking apps were exactly the same

        • @ego22: actually commbank supports android pay, samsung pay, garmin pay and their own Android app's tap and pay for MasterCards.

          So everything except: Apple Pay and Amex.

    • It does support Samsung Pay and Google Pay

    • +1

      Commonwealth Bank MasterCard works on Google Pay

  • +9

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Pay

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Pay


    Main differences to a plastic card:

    • It uses NFC, just like your plastic cards. However, the NFC is only active when your phone is unlocked and awake. Your plastic cards however are passive devices that activate whenever it is energized by an external source. So merely tapping the card activates the NFC. Your phone however chooses when to transmit the data.

    • It offers two factor authentication. Normally, a NFC Credit or Debit card doesn't offer any 2 factor auth — meaning anyone that steals your card can use it.

    • With Google Pay / Apple Pay, authentication is required for each payment. Usually, that's just your device screen lock or biometric scanner (fingerprint). So if someone snitches your phone and the phone is PIN-protected, they can't spend any $$$ until they breach the security

    • With Google Pay* (only) a Virtual credit card number is generated everytime a transaction goes through and the merchant does not know your real card number.

    • You can add multiple cards to a single Google Pay account, thereby reducing the need to carry multiple cards.

    • my regular phone with NFC using the comm bank ap does all that also…

      • +2

        Just different methods to do the same thing. This is almost like asking why do Mazda and Honda exist when Toyota is around.

      • Well, alternatives exist because of competition.

        • -3

          but its not really an alternative. its just a function that every phone comes with. and u need to have your banking app also anyway…

          its like saying, my TV remote has IR so when i press the buttons it changes the tv chanels. Buuuuuuuut. if i install appleIR on my remote. it will also change the channels…but in apple style..?

        • @ego22: They exist as competition. Furthermore, Google play lets you load multiple cards in one app so for the people who do not have every banking app on their phone. Also, you don't actually need to have a banking app on your phone. You're just assuming that based on your own usage. Looks like your initial question is answered as to what they are.

        • -3

          @waterbottled:
          why would you not have your banking app on your phone?.. pay bills, pay people, check balance, Bpay things, transfer money… u dont HAVE TO have the app, but unless your 85 years old and scared of tech. its kinda very stupid not to have it..

          ive just learnt of another comment that aparently comm bank is the only bank that puts effort into their app. so it does everything, and nothing else is needed. i just thought all banking apps were the same.

        • +1

          @ego22: a lot of us on ozb are in this situation: you have 1 main bank but you will sign up to credit cards and debit cards from other banks such as ING, Westpac, ANZ for bonuses and points etc.

          For this reason, Google Pay or Samsung Pay is useful. We dont have to install every bank app, but we can still conveniently combine all our cards on our phones. We get to lighten our wallets without adding and learning extra apps.

          ive just learnt of another comment that aparently comm bank is the only bank that puts effort into their app

          and other banks put more effort into integrating with Apple Pay, Google pay etc. CommBank did not allow outside NFC payment platforms for a long time, forcing you to use their app. Comes across as a bit snobby if you ask me.

        • @ego22:

          All cars have round wheels too.

          Sorry that the world doesn't revolve around you, sad you had to find out like this.

    • Are there any fees with using Google pay or Apple pay like there is with I believe PayPal and sometimes also MasterCard.

  • Basically same technology just different providers depending on if you own apple product, android product or samsung product. Can add cards from multiple banks to make payments, add loyalty cards, works with wearables, samsung devices can use non-paywave terminals.

  • +1

    For Google Pay, you just need to unlock your phone to pay whereas other banking apps require you to open the app as well.

    • no my comm bank app has a setting that u can pick how u want to pay. unlock phone, wake phone, go in app etc.. i just press the wake button on the side of my phone, without unlocking it and i can tap/pay.

      • +2

        I don't even wake it to pay.

  • Perhaps for those who have an amex + other card(s) and use them depending on situation

    If u only bank with one financial institution (all accounts and credit cards with 1 bank) then probably no use for u

  • I think its similar to someone above said, its like a provider or a service. Some companies like Samsung or Android or Apple will work with multiple banks to provide many onto their specific products or services. This is very useful as someone for example with Samsung Pay, would be able to use their phone, or Samsung watch and even possibly have it integrated into the samsung phone more closely (extra security with knox? extra fail safes if it notices a root <I'm guessing normal apps do this though> etc).

    Companies like commonwealth or NAB bank however may not partner with these services but instead make their own app, this means you are reliant on them for updating and it typically only has normal app privileges (less integrated with the phone). This may mean you have to open the app up first, or unlock it first or things like that. It might also not always be as integrated when new updates come out depending on how quick they are to react.

    Its important to note that besides the digital comparison, theres a business one. It also means its up to the bank to develop an app for phones and watches and etc (which some banks are more innovative then others) while things like android and IOS and samsung could be more likely to keep those partnerships open and thus may try hard to be quite compatible and take on the integration work.
    Also good to note the access and money that gos into it, commonweatlth and NAB might prefer you using their own app as they have full visiblility on what you do on it, and it only costs them how much they want to spend. Android and IOS and Samsung might charge use of their system, and banks might not have visibility so that may be a good or bad thing.

  • +1

    Basically you can pay for things by tapping you phone instead of carrying around the physical card.

  • +1

    In my mind, one of the main differences is that:

    • With my credit card or CommBank app only I, the retailer, and the bank know how much I spend & where I spend it.
    • With apple/android/samsung payments they you're giving them yet another source of intimately personal data about yourself.

    Given how Facebook & Cambridge Analytica are still very much a topic of conversation, I would hope that people are at least becoming more mindful of the data that they give away.

    • If you have been using things like

      1. Credit cards
      2. and you have enrolled into loyalty programs such as Frequent Flyers, FlyBuys, Woolworth's Rewards et cetera
      3. Cashback sites such as Shopback and Cashrewards
      4. You use marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay etc.
      5. You use the Google search engine to conduct your shopping research — you might have noticed Google does track prices of certain products, e.g plane tickets

      Then you have already agreed to being tracked and having your shopping habits analysed by a big number of financial technology companies.

      adding Google Pay into the mix isn't a big deal — as you shop online there are already numerous ways to track you and in the retail, the retailers themselves do the tracking.

      Also Google doesn't need to sell your data to make money either, since they themselves are into the advertising business and provide an advertising platform. They make more money hoarding all the data and using it to tailor a customized experience rather than selling it off to their competitors.

      • All true… but what any one agent can piece together by buying data would be nothing compared to giving Google/Apple a live stream of every transaction you do in person (using your phone instead of carrying your card around).

  • you can't pay for Drs appointments with applepay

    • +2

      So it's actually a case of "An apple(pay) a day keeps the doctor away" then?

  • Sometimes I go out with my phone, and forget my card (wallet). With my iPhone or my Apple watch, I can still pay using Apple Pay when I'm out. I find that useful, and have had to use it a few times.

    It only works for me with my ING accounts. Not my Bendigo accounts or Coles Myer credit card. I had a paytag with Coles, and it never worked, so I disabled it.

    The only accounts that it works with are the Visa/Mastercard credit or debit cards. I don't think it works with Eftpos only cards yet.

    However, I have been out and about and left my phone and wallet at home, and realised what an idiot I am. Then, as I was wearing my watch, I could still pay for things. So I like it!! It's a little fiddly, but it's a good backup.

  • There are many shops in Sydney that accepts Alipay now. One more complexity for you.

  • I'm not sure how google pay and android pay compares to Apple pay. But I have read that there's been ongoing negotiations between several Aus banks and Apple regarding them incorporating Apple pay with their own services. The banks want access to Apple's NFC solution but Apple doesn't want to hand over any access at all citing "security and simplicity issues"

    https://www.macrumors.com/2017/02/06/apple-hits-out-australi…

  • Tell me if I'm wrong but main difference is that this is not visa or MasterCard. So those credit card companies have nothing to do with it and not make any money.

    Apple pay is essentially providing that service.
    So presumably they make that money the visa or MasterCard would have made or more depending on deal with banks.

    Is that correct?

    Rest are just competitors. So just taking role of what MasterCard or Visa does?

    Not sure if for seller who actually pays these transaction fees, of they prefer Apple pay or transitional credit card companies.

    • Sorry, this is not correct unfortunately.
      Visa/MasterCard/AmEx/Diners all maintain their own payment networks (the backend systems that link retailers to banks to other financial institutions).
      When you make a payment (whether it's by tapping your physical card, using Apple/Google/Samsung/whatever Pay, Insert & PIN, Swipe or any other method), the terminal decodes the data, routes it through the respective provider's network to the bank who approves or declines the transaction and sends that data back to the terminal.
      All that these mobile wallets do is change what's happening at the terminal end (they tokenise the card so a different card number is sent through the network, but the person's bank knows to link this with the actual card number and it takes it from there).

  • I got so used to using my physical card to tap and pay the other week I left my wallet at home and literally totally forgot that my phone had Samsung pay on it until after doing what I had to do. Pretty much forgot it was an option. if you get into the habit of using it, it's extremely handy. You can also store your most used loyalty cards such as Flybuys, Woolworths Rewards etc

  • https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/04/08/nine-months-announc…

    Now you can link our credit card to paypal, then link your paypal to samsung pay.

  • -1

    Instead of asking us why not tap the same question into Google and you will get a great explanation.

    Meanwhile here is a hot tip….Your phone much be a smartphone and have NFC enabled.

  • i can tap and pay for ANYTHING. no extra apps or add ons needed.

    No extra apps like the Comm Bank app that you have installed?

    If you use Google or Apple or Samsung last you don't need any extra app as it is built into the phone.

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