Apple Pay: All Your Questions Answered - MacRumors

Contents

1. Apple Pay Overview
2. Setting Up Apple Pay
3. How It Works
4. In More Detail
5. Apple Pay on the Web
6. Apple Cash
7. The Apple Card
8. Tap to Pay on iPhone
9. Pay Over Time
10. International Expansion
11. NFC in Europe
12. Competition
13. Apple Pay Timeline

Apple Pay is Apple's mobile payments service that initially launched in 2014. It is designed to allow iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch users across the world to make payments for goods and services directly with credit and debit cards stored in their devices.

Apple Pay also lets users make one-tap purchases within apps that have adopted the Apple Pay API and on the web, with this functionality available to iPhones, iPads, and Macs with Touch ID or Face ID and NFC. Apple devices use a "Secure Element" for Apple Pay, keeping customer information secure and private.

Apple offers person-to-person Apple Pay payments through the Messages app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, plus there are also in-person payment options. Using Apple Cash, you can send money to friends or family in the United States. Apple also introduced its own credit card, the Apple Card, which has unique perks and benefits and offers deep integration with Apple Pay and the Wallet app.

To keep transactions secure, Apple uses a method known as "tokenization," preventing actual credit card numbers from being sent over the air. Apple also secures payments using Touch ID or Face ID on compatible iPhones and continual skin contact on the Apple Watch.

Apple is aiming to replace the wallet with Apple Pay, and the one-step payment process prevents people from needing to dig through a purse or wallet to find credit or debit cards. Because it is built on existing NFC technology, Apple Pay works anywhere NFC-based contactless payments are accepted, plus it is available on the web for online purchases.

Apple Pay is the most popular mobile payment platform in the United States. Since 2014, Apple has expanded Apple Pay has expanded to over 75 countries and regions.

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