Well, you can do your part to mitigate higher costs, I mean. It’s not like prices and interests rates automatically come down if you use a smartphone for contactless payments. But it’s a step in the right direction.
I agree wit you there. I never understood why the US payment card industry was so reluctant to use Chip+PIN that the rest of the world embraced.
When I had a Samsung watch, I only had to put in the PIN once per wear. That is, if I put it on in the morning and left it on all day, I only entered the PIN for my first purchase. And, it would be ready with the last card you used, so if you generally use one card, even if you have multiple cards in there, you don’t need to select the card again. That was my experience, anyway.
The watch knows when it comes off your wrist, so if you use it for a purchase, then remove the watch, then use it again, you would have to re-enter the PIN. But, if you leave it on all day, just once per day.
Said another way, there’s a way for the end user to switch off almost all the locks to increase their convenience.
Which is not meant as a dig at you personally, just pointing out the reality that, @zbuzz aside, the vast, vast majority of humanity considers any effort spent towards access control for their own security to be wasted inconvenience. So the software devs respond to that by having ways to dial access control from “very high” to “nearly non-existent.” And most of the public prefers the “nearly non-existent” setting.
Just to clarify, using Google Wallet on my phone (and I would expect this to be the case with all payment apps on all phones), you have to unlock the phone before you tap it. Presumably this is to prevent someone else who steals or finds your phone from making purchases if they can’t unlock it.
Yes, so I have discovered. You also have to unlock the credit card, either with PIN or fingerprint. Unfortunately, while still testing and not trying to check out anywhere, every time I tried to unlock the card, my phone screen froze and I had to re-boot the phone. I will try this at a store and see if the problem is that it is waiting to be tapped and then all that will turn off. It appears to get locked due to little system messages, like the one that tells me the last 4 digits of the temporary card number issued by the app, in case the cashier asks for it.
Other issues: although it took multiple tries to get my fingerprint read by the app (actually, I used my thumb, not sure if that was dumb or not), when it asks me to unlock the card with the fingerprint, there is no place indicated on the screen where I’m supposed to hold my thumb. So far, for that reason, I have only tried to unlock with the PIN, which has been successful (i.e. it said it was ready to tap) except that it locked up my phone.
The watch is actually much easier: press and hold 2nd button, enter PIN, touch check mark, and it’s ready to go. I did actually use that today to pay for some fast food.
Hm, I have not had any such issues with Google Wallet. All I have to do is unlock the phone (via fingerprint or lock code), then hold the phone up to the reader. That’s it. I don’t have to “unlock the credit card” (not sure exactly what that means; you have to unlock the phone and then do a second unlock step?). I’ve never had the phone freeze, nor are any system messages displayed. It just beeps to show that it successfully communicated with the reader.
Does your phone have a PIN code (or some other kind of code) for every time you use it? Mine does (for general phone security). Then I go to the Wallet icon, tap it, tap Quick Access, and that’s where I start to get into trouble with Pay with Fingerprint, which I can’t get to work at all, or PIN, which locks up my phone.
I’m not sure which post this is replying to, but it’s about how the watch works, my Apple Watch is the same and I am not sure what you think is lacking in terms of security. As soon as the Watch comes off my wrist it locks and needs a passcode to do anything other than see the time. Once it is on my wrist and unlocked, I do not need to enter that code again. How would leaving the Watch in a locked state while being worn makes it any more secure?
You make it sound like people are stupid for wearing a watch they can actually use, for reasons I am not seeing.
Jeez what a hassle. I would give up on phone payments if I had to go through that. No, mine does not work like that at all. I just unlock the phone like I normally do when it’s locked, which can be done with either a PIN code or a fingerprint. Then I hold up the phone to the reader. That’s all. I don’t have to manually open an app or tap anything at all on the phone screen, or even look at the phone after it’s unlocked. Maybe you could try Google Wallet and see if it works that way for you too?
What I really need to do is to try using it in real life at checkout, to see if I really need to go through all that. Maybe today at the supermarket.
Samsung phones can have Samsung wallet available if you swipe up from the bottom, requiring only one unlock. So, if you swipe up from the bottom, and then use your face or fingerprint or however you unlock your phone, you should be good to go.
I don’t know where that setting is, but I found it once to turn it off when my phone is unfolded, but have it available when it’s folded.
I always have to unlock my phone, if it has gone to sleep or been put to sleep. Then no matter how I get to Quick Access*, I have to unlock the card. I don’t know how to shortcut any of those steps.
I found Wallet settings for “Lock screen” and “Pop-up” but no matter how I have those set, my screen locks as soon as I put in the PIN. There’s a timer for 45 seconds, which I presume is how long I have to tap the phone to the checkout device, and then, if popups are disallowed, it goes back to the Quick Access screen, but at that point everything is frozen. I’ve discovered I can unlock it by hitting the power button and then putting in my phone’s PIN again, but that’s still a big nuisance. And there is still no indication of where I’m supposed to put my thumbprint on the card screen.
*Sometimes swipe up works and sometimes it doesn’t. I have not been able to figure out what is different in the two cases. I did not intend this thread to become a troubleshooting tutorial for me on Wallet, so I’ll try to solve this offline. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.
Two suggestions that have worked for me: ask a kid to help you sort it out (for a broad value of kid, with me and anything tech that’s someone 40 or younger down to my 7 year old grandchild) and also check YouTube for ‘how to’ videos. The first one or two might not have the answer but there will be one that does.
It those don’t work try a visit to your local library and asking a librarian to help you find the answer. My public library even offers half hour ‘tech help’ 1:1 appts at several branches for just such questions. Doesn’t even have to be a traditional library research sort of question, just a ‘where is this information I need and how do I access it’?
The biggest difference between Google Pay and, well, the entire rest of the modern banking system, is that Google Pay is designed to be secure.
Is Google pay an option on a Samsung phone, or does Samsung restrict you to only using Samsung’s payment method?
It’s an option.
You can use Google Wallet on a Samsung phone, as I do.
My phone is telling me, however, that ‘The Google Pay US app is no longer available.’ Can anybody verify this?
I have exactly zero of the OP’s problems with current-version Samsung Pay/Wallet on my old S10 or my new S24.
I am at a total loss about all this freezing & prompting and PINs & such.
Or is the OP trying to use Google-pay on a Samsung phone?
I have an iPhone, so I have Apple Pay as an option. But I never use it, instead preferring just to tap my credit card to the reader. Is there some advantage to Apple Pay/Google Pay/Samsung Pay?