Apple Pay

Rumor has it Gcash will support Apple Pay next year. Supposed to be this year but was pushed back due to the pandemic. Resources went to accommodating surge in usage.

This is not verified, only heard from upper management in one of the major banks & previous Gcash team member. Things change.

 

Agreed, but first thing's first. Deployment of POS with consumer facing NFC Scanners (for 7-11 and Fast food chains), more sanitary and saves time as it will have displays that lights up with the charge amount before you tap your device.

The current set up here is that the NFC scanner is on top of the card terminal which is not always in a good position.

Fintech is still underdeveloped here in PH mostly due to lack of regulation and corporate greed. Two RFID wallets for toll systems? Yikes.

Hope it changes soon.

 

same thing we have here... we just tap our phones/cards on the terminal. Those things are wireless so stores can just leave it on top of the counters.

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OT, we use Apple/Google pay here in SG almost all the time (incl public transport) and my daughter is so annoyed that her iPhone needs to scan her face before she can use Apple Pay (thanks to the mask, she has to wait until she can enter her PIN), Google Pay works even when the phone is locked!

 

There's an express transit option for Apple Pay which removes the face authentication part when using in transit. (Not sure if that feature is available in SG but I've been using that in Japan)

 

Based on my digging/research, its bank specific. So the credit card I gave her does not have that feature.

Now she's holding 2 phones. The iPhone 8 for all her purchases

 

Express Transit is for Transit cards (HK octopus, Japan Suica) -- Reloadable cards/wallets (good as cash, no biometrics).

UK/AU and Some US States uses direct to credit card charging via PayWave/PayPass which requires authentication and processing by issuing banks. This is why Apple Pay requires biometrics for "purchasing" the ride.

One workaround is Apple Watch which only requires double pressing the side button to bring up her cards (no pin required for both transit and credit cards).

If she can sell her iPhone 8, she might have enough cash for an SE

 

Her XR is due to be replaced on Saturday with a 12 Pro

We're only maintaining the "8" for our Phil roaming number (and all my DJI stuff)

I'm thinking of setting up her fitbit pay -> I guess that will be better than buying her an Apple Watch

 

Sir Ice’s daughter would be very happy with this workaround if she doesn’t have the apple watch.

 

Yeah. Even a simple RFID implementation need not to be that complicated.
One problem also with establishment’s scanner, more often, Instead of asking their customer to hold their own card and just tap. They still get your card and tap it in those scanner instead.

 

Use what you have if it's supported. If you do have to buy, Series 3 can accomplish the same task for not much money and better integration with Apple ecosystem.

eSim your SG line and insert your PH line to your new 12 Pro Dispose your 8 na

This is one of my pet peeve. Some insists on dipping the chip even if may paywave. Defeats the contactless, sanitary purpose.

Also, as a merchant, BDO's NFC on their terminal is a hit or miss. Works great with their own cards but insists on having a competitor/foreign bank's card inserted even when buying below 2k.

 

There have also been rumors on Reddit around 3 years ago that BDO has been in talks with Apple about supporting Apple Pay for their CCs. Grab also has a small excerpt on their GrabPay site that they're also building the link to support Apple, Google, and Samsung Pay.

But yes, I agree that we do need to have consumer-facing POS terminals first (like the ones found in some renovated Mickey Ds) before it becomes viable to have NFC mobile payments. Kung QR-based payments nga hindi pa masyado mainstream, what more Apple Pay haha. I do hope the Gcash - Apple Pay integration does bear some fruit tho since it lowers the barrier for entry since not everyone has a CC, let alone a BDO one hahaha

 

Rumors are true. Was talking to someone at BDO about it.

Naturally we are not a priority market as they use sales volume of Apple hardware/software as a weighted thing to enter a market.

 

They should look into install base with iPhone 6 as the lowest possible device able to support Apple Pay. We have a thriving second hand market where units come from JP, HK and SG as well. Heck, even my friend's maids use iPhone 5/6/6s as their daily drivers.

Though it might be hard since they can only rely on App Store & Retail data, privacy stance and all.

 

I wonder if they're still in discussion with Apple about Apple Pay.

 

I really hope Apple Pay gets to launch soon in the Philippines. It's a very convenient contact-free transaction method

 

This was activated in the PH mainly because of the new “CarKey” featured in the “new” (LCI) BMW 5 series. I wish they would have it here as soon as possible, and I’m not surprised if PayMaya will be the first since they’ve been aggressive in pushing out their NFC enabled terminals.

 

PayMaya has been leading in bagging major retailers. I'm pretty sure their rates are enticing. Starbucks recently decoupled with BDO for payment and Starbucks card system (BDO handles the back end) with PayMaya terminals. The hell with wide acceptance, am I right?

Jollibee Food Group has NFC readers facing customers (for Happy Plus) with BPI being the partner bank. What a single purpose waste of utility. The infra is there, they just need to dial down their greed and work with each other.

 

The same sentiment here. If only Jollibee opens up their happy plus system to either Paywave or an OS-based system (like Apple pay), I would use it more often than the flimsy card that they sell you.

As for Starbucks, I think they also are using Gcash as well.