Apple Pay has finally been launched, meaning around 10 million owners of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus can now purchase items in many stores around the U.S.
Before users can start using the new mobile payment system, however, there are a few things to remember.
Setting Apple Pay Up
One of the first things to take note of before starting to use the system is that users have to be running the latest version of iOS, iOS 8.1. After that, users will have to enable Apple Pay on their device, and the setup can be found in the Passbook application. This setup is rather easy, especially if users want to use the same method of payment that they use on iTunes. All that's left to be done is to enter a three or four digit security code.
For those who want to use a different payment method, users simply need to enter their credit card information. Users can even simply take a picture of their card and it will automatically enter the information for them.
Finding Apple Pay Supported Stores
Before users start leaving their plastic cards at home, it is important to make sure that stores they will be shopping at actually support Apple Pay. There are currently around 200,000 stores in the U.S. that support the new system and while that may sound like a lot, in the grand scheme of things, Apple Pay has a long way to go.
One way to find Apple Pay-supported stores is to use mobile wallet Softcard's location finder. Softcard is a near-field communication medium that is supported by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, and most Softcard-supported pay stations will also support Apple Pay because it is essentially the same technology.
There are also other similar services as Softcard's location finder, but most of them yield fewer results. They include MasterCard Nearby, which was designed to find MasterCard PayPass merchants, which again, will mostly work with Apple Pay, and Google Wallet Where it Works, which was obviously designed for the Android version of Apple Pay, Google Wallet.
Do's and Don'ts
Unless you have very small hands, don't use your thumb for authentication in Apple Pay. The index finger is a better choice and works more reliably.
Before you check out, make sure you're in an Apple Pay-enabled check-out aisle. Even merchants who are accepting Apple Pay likely will not have an Apple Pay station set up for each and every checkout register that they have open.
Also do all the setup ahead of time before going shopping. While setup is easy and quick, you don't want to be the one to hold up the checkout line while you discover Apple's newest technology.
