Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Did you ever think that you would be able to ‘Pay’ with a watch?

I went to Walgreen’s this morning to test out ApplePay – not on my phone, I already tested that, but I wanted to use it on my AppleWatch.  I have to admit that this was my second attempt to try my watch.  I was not successful the first time because I did not fully listen to the video.  The video said to double-click the side button, so I did, not realizing that it did not mean the round button.  I did not want to hold up the line, so I decide to come back.

 I watched the video again and realized that when it said to double-click the side button, it was referring to the slick button on the side of my watch.   I walked in and picked up my items and went to the check out.  I told the clerk that I wanted to try to pay with my watch and he said that he had only seen one other customer do that before.  Once he finished scanning my items, I clicked on the side of my watch and it did not work.  Then I double-clicked and the image of my TB&T card popped up on my watch.  I turned the image towards the NFC reader and it dinged then the screen showed payment successful. The clerk said, “that is awesome.”  I was so excited about the ‘slick’ technology that I forgot to use my Walgreen’s coupon. 
Are you wondering how I got my checkcard information into my iWatch? It is quite simple.  You just select the Wallet and Apple Pay option in your iPhone 6 or 6s, and follow the prompts to set up your TB&T debit or credit card.  Just as a side note, if you do not use ITunes frequently, you might be prompted to contact the bank and validate some additional information – just as a security precaution.  If you have an Apple Watch, you will need to go into the app and select one of the cards that you setup for your iPhone.
Once you follow the prompts and add the card to your phone, all you need to do is go to an authorized ApplePay location (see Apple’s website) and just hold your phone next to the NFC reader with your thumb on the home button click to wake your phone, then you will see the image of your card, hold the home button while it confirms your transaction.  I almost forgot! You need to be sure that you already set up touch ID to recognize your fingerprints before you use ApplePay.
I paid with my iPhone 6 at Walgreen’s and it was pretty ‘slick’.  It was fun watching the facial expressions of the people in line behind me.  My phone immediately showed a notification that I made a purchase at Walgreen’s and gave me the amount.  How awesome is that? 
You are probably wondering, at least maybe some of you, “Is it secure?”  That was my first question, since I seem to be replacing my checkcard rather often due to fraud.  It is actually more secure than using your card.  Once you store your card in your phone, the Apple Pay technology is interesting and kind of complicated.  The technology actually takes your card numbers and creates a unique device token and stores it in your phone instead of your card.  Then, when you process a payment it is sending that token number instead of your card number to the machine…why is this important? Well, it protects your card from breaches, like the one at Target and other stores, where they hacked into the system and stole all of the card information.
I have to admit that I am a fan of Apple and this technology is a lot of fun; bu,t I also have to say that they are a little behind on technology.   Samsung Pay actually allows you to pay with a card at almost all locations, not just ones that have a NFC reader; it uses a magnetic secure transmission technology that transmits the information as if you swiped your card. 
More Technology to come…SamsungPay, Android, etc., it’s in the works…and, hopefully, Apple is working on some form of magnetic secure transmission, so I can use my iPhone at the majority of businesses and not just the select few that Apple partnered with.
Go out and try it today…it is really neat to see how cool technology can be and almost ‘Jetsons’ like to think that I actually purchased something with my watch. 

By: Sheri Parish, Senior Vice President
and Director of Deposit Operations