Santander 123 credit card & Apple Pay

Ballard

Although the cash back will be minimal this will make me use Apple Pay (until the end of February anyway):

Apple Pay bonus cashback offer

Until 29 February 2016, you can earn 3% cashback on all your 1I2I3 Credit Card purchases made using Apple Pay (on spend of up to £100 a month which means the maximum cashback you can earn is £3 per month). This is in addition to the cashback that you can earn across the standard cashback categories with your 1I2I3 Credit Card. Please note that some retailers may limit the purchase amount to £30. Please read the Apple Pay bonus cashback terms below.

TheTracker

Might even make me annoy my fellow tube travellers by contorting a large smart phone on the exit gate instead of tapping a small thin piece of embossed plastic.

The_pc_tech

Commuting into or around London is hard enough, why would you want to do such a thing?

Ballard

TheTracker wrote: »

Might even make me annoy my fellow tube travellers by contorting a large smart phone on the exit gate instead of tapping a small thin piece of embossed plastic.

It seems that I'm not alone in thinking that using the phone is far less convenient than a card. I have used it on TfL and in my experience it is a clunkier way to pay but for the few times I'll use it before the end of February it's fine with me.

knack92

Ballard wrote: »

It seems that I'm not alone in thinking that using the phone is far less convenient than a card. I have used it on TfL and in my experience it is a clunkier way to pay but for the few times I'll use it before the end of February it's fine with me.

Any payment method which requires authentication is going to be clunkier than one which doesn't. Pre-authenticating Apple Pay means the difference, in speed at least, should not be noticeable. Since so many people use their phone on the way to/on/from public transport it shouldn't be much more arduous than getting a contactless card ready, especially once one has used it a few times.

Ballard

Pre-authenticating by definition makes it less user friendly, surely? I'm happy to use Apple Pay if I earn a little cash back but other than that I have little or no interest as I see no other benefit.

knack92

Ballard wrote: »

Pre-authenticating by definition makes it less user friendly, surely? I'm happy to use Apple Pay if I earn a little cash back but other than that I have little or no interest as I see no other benefit.

Authentication in general makes it less user-friendly I suppose, but I think Apple have done well in making Apple Pay very user friendly.

My point about pre-authenticating was to counter arguments from some that Apple Pay is slower than a contactless card and slows other commuters down. If you get your phone out on the way to the barrier and double click home button and hold your thumb there until you see "hold near reader to pay" then the phone is good to go for one minute requiring no further authentication making it work just like the contactless card.

Another reason I use Apple Pay is for the security benefits, though these are usually overlooked.

reclusive46

It's also much quicker for high value transactions. You get the speed of contactless on what what have been a chip and pin transaction.

Ballard

knack92 wrote: »

Authentication in general makes it less user-friendly I suppose, but I think Apple have done well in making Apple Pay very user friendly.

My point about pre-authenticating was to counter arguments from some that Apple Pay is slower than a contactless card and slows other commuters down. If you get your phone out on the way to the barrier and double click home button and hold your thumb there until you see "hold near reader to pay" then the phone is good to go for one minute requiring no further authentication making it work just like the contactless card.

Another reason I use Apple Pay is for the security benefits, though these are usually overlooked.

Thanks. I will try this method whilst Santander are paying me to use it.

knack92

Ballard wrote: »

Thanks. I will try this method whilst Santander are paying me to use it.

It did occur to me while typing the reply that you might not be aware this is possible. Make sure the phone is locked when you double click. Alternatively, you can do this via the Wallet app.

Ballard

knack92 wrote: »

It did occur to me while typing the reply that you might not be aware this is possible. Make sure the phone is locked when you double click. Alternatively, you can do this via the Wallet app.

I had been aware that it was possible but had forgotten so thanks for the reminder. In the big scheme of things I don't expect to continue using it past February though.