Apple Pay: How the payment service works

It’s easy to explain how Apple Pay works. If you already own one or the other Apple device, you will probably be able to use the payment service without any problems. All you need is a slightly newer iPhone or an Apple Watch…

How Apple Pay works – this is what you should know

Some innovations take quite a long time to arrive in Germany. In the case of Apple Pay, it took a whole four years: Apple Pay was introduced in September 2014 at the press event for the iPhone 6. After that, the payment service was initially only available in America until it was also activated in Germany at the end of 2018.

• To pay with Apple Pay, you need at least an iPhone 6 or an iPhone 6 Plus. Alternatively, you can pay with the Apple Watch. However, this requires a link to an iPhone 5 or newer.
• Apple relies on the Near Field Communication radio standard for security. In addition, every time you make a payment, you have to legitimise the financing transaction with a fingerprint or Face ID on the iPhone.
• What this looks like in practice is that you press your finger on the fingerprint sensor while holding your iPhone up to the corresponding card reader of the shop. Instead of the fingerprint, you also have the option to authorise yourself using facial recognition.
• When making a payment, you do everything right from your iPhone. This way, you don’t come into contact with the buttons of foreign input devices. Contactless payment is also possible.
• You don’t have to worry about privacy, according to Apple. According to the tech company, Apple Pay is all about data privacy. Apple will not store any transaction data that could be traced back to you.

Apple Pay – now also an established payment method here

In Germany, almost all financial institutions now accept the Apple Pay payment method:

• This includes, for example, Deutsche Bank as well as Hanseatic Bank, Hypovereinsbank, Comdirect, N26, Augsburger Aktienbank, Sparkasse, Sparda Bank, Commerzbank, Norisbank, Fidor Bank, O2 Banking, Bunq, Landesbank and, of course, Bank of America. If in doubt, simply ask your financial institution
• With Apple Pay, you can pay at more than 220,000 shops in the US. These include such large chain stores as Bloomingdale’s, Nike, Whole Foods and McDonald’s. Here, the selection is not yet quite as large. However, you can quickly see where the Apple payment method is possible by looking at the icons.
• By the way: If you are an FC Bayern Munich fan, you can pay for everything from tickets to sausages at the traditional club with Apple Pay.