Modern technology does not stand still. They are developing so fast that many people just do not have time to understand them. More recently, paying for goods on the Internet was new. And how it works, understood only a limited percentage of people.
Now technology is developing even faster. The turn of mobile phones has come. Literally every month, new models appear on the market, equipped with dozens of useful features. One of them is payment for purchases by phone. How is this possible? How to pay by phone in the store? What is necessary to know and have for this? Let's get it right.
Can I pay by phone?
One of the recent innovations that our citizens met is the contactless payment system. We are talking about such types of cards as Visa PayWave and MasterCard PayPass. A huge number of people have already appreciated the simplicity and convenience of this technology. In order to pay for the purchase, you just need to bring the “plastic” to a special POS-terminal. There is no need to enter a PIN code or perform any other actions. Everything happens automatically. This incredibly speeds up payment.
The same process was taken as a basis when developing a settlement system with the help of a mobile phone. The technology is called Near Field Communication (abbreviated NFC). The smartphone owner generates a special payment card that has the function of contactless payment. For this, a special mobile application is used, different for each system.
Popular contactless payment programs
As already mentioned, in order to turn a smartphone into a wallet, you need a special program. You can pay by phone if you have one of the following applications installed:
- Samsung Pay;
- Apple Pay
- Android Pay.
Which program to install depends on which operating system your smartphone is running on. “Applephones” will only suit Apple Pay, smartphones on Android will only respond to Android Pay, and the rest of the program will only work on smartphones of the corresponding brand.
A little below we will consider in detail how to pay in the store by phone, using one or another system.
Apple pay
This contactless payment technology has been integrated into Apple brand devices. Its essence is that you no longer need to carry countless different plastic cards with you. You can simply “tie up” all plastic media to your smartphone and conveniently make purchases.
It is not difficult to do this, and the service is really simple and easy to use.
Initial settings
To begin using Apple Pay, you will have to complete several preparatory steps. First you need to open a card account in one of the branches of the following financial institutions:
- "Alfa Bank".
- "VTB 24".
- “RocketBank”.
- Bank "Saint-Petersburg".
- Tinkoff.
- Bank opening".
- Gazprombank.
- "Russian standard".
- "Yandex money".
- Sberbank
- MDM-Binbank.
- MTS
- Raiffeisenbank.
The list is constantly updated and it is likely that several dozens more banks can be added to it soon.
Well, of course, you need to make sure that your iPhone will cope with the installed application. The technology is supported by such models:
- iPhone SE, 6, 7, 6s and 6 Plus and 7 Plus;
- Macbook Pro 2016
- Latest iPad
- Apple Watch I and II generations.
If you have an older phone, you will have to wait a bit with contactless payments.
In addition, to install Apple Pay and its normal functioning, you will need an Apple ID and an updated OS.
To make contactless payments, you can add as many as 8 payment cards to the applephone.
Application algorithm
Here is a short instruction for those who do not know how to turn a phone into a bank card:
- Open the Wallet system and click on the active link “Add a payment card”.
- Enter your Apple ID.
- Enter in the proposed fields the data of the payment plastic card: name of the holder, expiration date, number. Please provide a brief description.
- If there is no desire to mess around, you can just take a photo of the card carrier. In this case, part of the fields will be filled in automatically.
- After this, you need to wait a bit. The bank that issued the card will determine its authenticity, identify and decide whether it is possible to attach it to the iPhone.
- When the verification is completed, click the "Next" button and wait a little longer.
- Done. Now you can use your smartphone to pay for purchases.
And how to pay by phone in the store? Very simple. To do this, just bring the smartphone to a special payment terminal. In this case, you need to hold Touch ID with your finger. Who does not know, this is a big key at the bottom of the case. Hold the smartphone near the terminal for a while and wait for the sound signal. He will notify you that the operation is completed and successful.
Android Pay
And how to pay with a phone running on the Android system? There is nothing complicated here either. You can download a special application from the GooglePlay service. But it will work stably only if the following conditions are met:
- the presence of the Android system version 4.4 or higher;
- pre-installed NFC-module;
- lack of open unlimited access to smartphone systems (root access).
There are several more conditions under which Android Pay cannot be used:
- OS bootloader not unlocked on smartphone
- pre-installed version of the "OS" for developers or there is Samsung MyKnox;
- The smartphone is fake and has not passed the Google approval process.
Before you pay by phone in a store or salon, you must correctly install and run the appropriate application. You can do it this way:
- Download and install the service
- open the program and find your account;
- click the “+” icon in the lower right corner;
- select "Add a map" and fill in all the necessary fields;
- Confirm the data by entering a special password from SMS.
Done. The card is tied. Before making a contactless payment, you need to make sure that the terminal supports this technology. Most often this is indicated by special stickers in the form of radio waves (contactless payment) or the Android Pay logo.
Paying for your purchases with your phone is also easy. To do this, it is enough to bring the device from inactive mode and bring it with the back panel to the appropriate place on the terminal. It’s not necessary to activate the Android Pay program. She activates herself.
Now you need to wait 2-3 seconds and make sure that the payment is completed. Further actions will depend on which card is “tied” to the smartphone. If you pay with a credit card in excess of the limit, you will need to additionally put a signature on the check. If a debit “plastic” is used, you will have to enter a PIN code.
Samsung Pay
This system is not as popular as its predecessors. However, the number of users is growing rapidly. This is partly due to the fact that with the help of Samsung Pay you can pay not only by the contactless payment system, but also where a magnetic strip is installed in the terminal. This is possible thanks to a specially developed system of secure magnetic transmission (Magnetic Secure Transmission or MST).
The fact is that smartphones that support this special technology can create a special magnetic field.
The list of financial institutions supporting such technology is not yet too large, but is constantly expanding.
To use the application, your smartphone must support NFC and have an “OS” of at least Android 4.4.4.
The process of launching the application and map binding is almost identical to those described above:
- download the application and activate the account using e-mail;
- determine the authorization path using a PIN code or fingerprint;
- press the “+” symbol or the “Add” link;
- enter the data of the plastic card or scan it;
- familiarize yourself with the terms of service, put a “checkmark” in the desired field and click “Accept All”;
- confirm your actions with a password from SMS;
- with a stylus or just a finger put your signature on the smartphone screen;
- Click Finish.
In this way, you can “tie up” to the smartphone no more than 10 cards. Everything works very simply:
- Launch Samsung Pay
- select a card;
- log in with your PIN or fingerprint;
- bring the phone to the POS terminal and wait a couple of seconds.
Pros and cons of phone payments
Despite the popularity of the technology, it still has more disadvantages than advantages.
- Firstly, at the moment there are not so many places where you can pay by phone. This is especially true for small cities or towns. Indeed, in order to make such a payment, you need an appropriate terminal. And it is installed far from everywhere.
- Secondly, many cashiers are simply afraid to do something wrong and come up with various pretexts in order to refuse such a payment method.
- And finally, in order to pay in this way, you must have a fairly expensive and “sophisticated” phone. Unfortunately, not everyone has it.
However, the advantages of payment by phone are also available. First of all, it is stylish, fashionable and still attracts attention. In addition, it is also incredibly convenient. After all, you don’t have to carry a whole bunch of plastic cards with you and remember the PIN codes from each of them. It is enough to enter all the data into the program once, and in the future it will do everything for you.
Conclusion
Now you know how to pay by phone at the checkout, and if necessary you can do it. Technologies are developing so fast that the day is not far off when such a phenomenon will no longer surprise, and calculations using the phone will become available everywhere.