Great news! You can now make mobile payments with iCard Visa and Apple Pay.
We’ve gotten multiple requests in the past year to make it possible for iPhone users to pay with their phones, just like our Android users love to do.
The NFC chips in iPhones remain open to apps made by Apple. Thankfully, Apple Pay has made it possible to connect its native Apple Wallet app to cards issued by third-party establishments like iCard.
Now, this is a fact and we are happy to announce that your iCard Visa debit card can be added to your Apple Wallet and used around the world in a faster and more secure way.
What is Apple Pay?
It is a mobile payment method that offers an easy, secure and private way to pay with your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.
Your iCard Visa debit cards can be used with Apple Wallet to pay with your phone, on the go, in-stores, or at any place where contactless payments are accepted.
Apple users can also make one-touch purchases at online retailers who accept Apple Pay as a payment method on their websites.
Expect real-time notifications for all your payments when using Apple Pay.
The technology
Apple Pay, just like iCard’s native Android app, uses your device’s near-field communication (NFC) chip to power contactless payments.
You get an instant notification for every transaction immediately after you tap your device. Depending on your app settings, you might get two notifications for the same transaction – one from iCard and one from Apple Wallet. Of course, you can always turn off one or the other.
All your purchases will be reported visually in your Apple Wallet. To have an overview of your transactions made specifically by iCard Visa, simply open the app, tap on your card, then tap on “Activity”. This way you can stay on top of your expenses and never lose track of your budget.
An intriguing fact is that your mobile payments will also work in offline mode. Even with no 4G or Wi-fi coverage, your Apple device will have a few “payment tokens” stored and ready to make the next transaction. Next time your device connects to the internet, your stored tokens will be replenished and ready to go offline again.
The security
Mobile payments prove to be a habit-changer. More and more users opt for the speed and convenience of mobile wallets. Emarketer.com expects that over 1 Billion people worldwide will make at least 1 mobile payment in 2020.
But how safe is Apple Pay?
It offers multiple protection layers, both hardware, and software.
The first line of defence is your passcode and you can’t use Apple Pay without it. This ensures you are deliberately making transactions out of your account. Touch ID or Face ID can replace a passcode, but you always need to authenticate your payment one way or another.
The next defence measure is the so-called “tokenization”. This is an IT security approach that scrambles your payment information and sends it out to the merchant in the form of a randomized and encrypted code – the payment token. Your actual card details get decrypted by the payment network (Visa or Mastercard) before verifying your payment information, account balance and informing the merchant of a successful or failed payment. These payment tokens of information are stored in a secure storage chip, called “Secure Element”, and built into Apple devices.
Wondering how Apple handles your payment information?
None of your personal and transactional details are stored on any of their cloud servers. These details are stored locally, on your device, and will disappear after a period of time. Your details can be deleted remotely if you lose your phone.
Mobile payments, by design, allows PIN-less transactions for any amount, which is not possible with debit cards. This fact on its own should be enough assurance that the technology is mature enough and safe enough, and you can easily give it a go.
How to pay with Face ID or Touch ID?
Where is Apple Pay accepted?
The Apple Pay service is relatively new in Europe. It launched in the UK in 2015 and many other countries are added to the list in 2019. Still, not many European online merchants use the convenient Apple Pay web and app payment method within their checkout systems.
This shouldn’t be an issue because mobile payments are proven faster than cash and work anywhere contactless payments are accepted.
Just look for these signs:
Plus, iCard is accepted all over the world, so you can keep tapping wherever life takes you on a journey. And no worries if your battery dies, you can always rely on your iCard Visa debit card.
Have more questions about Apple Pay? Check out our FAQ section.
Feel free to share your feedback with us. What was the feeling to pay with iCard and Apple Pay? Leave a comment below.
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