Halloween is literally less than a week away, with Thanksgiving and Christmas to follow. Apple Pay might be your best friend this holiday season, not only for the easy convenience of buying gifts for yourself, friends and family, but to also keep your debit and credit card information secure so that it does not get into the hands of hackers and thieves.Â
One of the things that makes Apple Pay so convenient is that it is available at a wide variety of stores now in 2018, with more to come in the future. Another reason why is that you can use it on your iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and MacBook Pro with TouchBar.
Other Macs do have a way to use it without the TouchBar, but it ends up having to verify through your iPhone.
However, the best thing about Apple Pay is the security that comes with it. I have been using the service since 2016 when I got my first iPhone 6 and my cards have yet to get hacked. When I’ve had to use my chip at stores like Walmart or my local grocery store, and even using it on Amazon, my cards have been hacked before.
Nowadays, the newer iPhones verify with Face ID (iPhone X, iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and iPhone Xr), but older iPhones will verify with Touch ID). An Apple Watch will verify with the built-in scanners that are constantly measuring and tracking your BPM and such. The iPad, like the older iPhones, will verify with Touch ID. The MacBook Pro with TouchBar will verify with Touch ID on the top-right-corner of the TouchBar.
The only two big stores that do not accept Apple Pay in their stores are Walmart and Target. Walmart does have Walmart Pay, which is surprisingly a little more secure than using the chip on your credit and debit card. Walmart Pay works in Walmart’s stores and their app. Target accepts Apple Pay only through their iOS app but not in their retail stores.
Amazon does not accept Apple Pay either in their app. It’s unfortunate, but it is the truth. As ideal as it would be for them to accept it, it’s not in their plans right now.
The good news is that eBay is looking to get Apple Pay in their entire app and website by 2020. This is huge since eBay is one of the most popular shopping websites out there, so for them to accept Apple Pay is something that, I think, is going to want to make even more people use it.
If you’re looking for convenience and security this holiday season for your holiday shopping, be sure to use Apple Pay as much as possible. To find out which stores in your area accept Apple Pay, be sure to check Apple Maps because it will list whether or not a store or business accepts it.
