Mobile payment apps are becoming more popular thanks to the pandemic. But between Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, which one is the best?
First of all, what are they?
Digital wallets have been around for some time now, but they haven’t replaced our physical wallets completely. If you own a smart phone or tablet, it will come pre-installed with a wallet app. Samsung wallet for Android and Apple Wallet for iOS. Google also has a wallet app, but it needs to be downloaded and is only available on Android devices.
Inside the wallet app, you can store the details of your physical credit and debit cards, and from here, you can connect them to Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or Google Pay, depending on your device.
Apple Pay
As the name implies, Apple Pay is only available on Apple devices. This includes iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and MacBook pro with TouchID.
To authenticate a payment through Apple Pay, you’ll either need to use FaceID or your fingerprint.
It’s available in over 75 countries and works with NFC readers, in-app purchases and web purchases through Safari.
Apple Pay works with credit and debit cards, as well as loyalty cards.
Google Pay
Google Pay is available on most Android devices, but not iOS. The device must have Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or higher, NFC support and HCE support.
To authenticate a payment through Google Pay, you’ll need to use a fingerprint, PIN or password.
It is currently available in 30 different countries and works with NFC readers, in-app and web purchases that have Google Pay set up.
Google Pay has the advantage over Apple Pay of working with credit and debit cards, loyalty cards and gift cards. It also works with PayPal.
Samsung Pay
Samsung Pay is available on most Samsung Galaxy phones, Gear Watch, Gear Watch Active and Gear S2 and S3.
To authenticate a payment through Samsung Pay, you’ll need to use your fingerprint, PIN or iris.
It’s available in 29 countries currently, and works with NFC, in-app purchases and EMV terminals.
Like Google Pay, it works with credit and debit cards, loyalty cards, gift cards and PayPal.
Overall, each digital payment app is effective for payments within their own operating systems and with physical card readers. The major difference comes down to the amount of countries that use each system and the devices that they can be used with.
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