It’s increasingly common to see other people paying at businesses with their smartphones. If you are looking for an app to pay with your phone, Samsung Pay or Apple Pay are available. But also banks and carriers want to join in and many are already offering their own apps so we can pay with our phones without making it too difficult for ourselves. Find the best choice for you.
What do I have to pay with my phone?
To be able to use our device as a credit card, it must have NFC, something that more and more phones have. You must also have at least Android 4.4 if you want to be able to enjoy mobile payments.
What’s the best apps to pay with your phone?
Choosing one over the other depends in part on which bank our card comes from. But this is the best app to pay with your phone.
Google Pay
Google Pay is a tap-to-pay app that makes it easy to pay contactlessly. You don’t even need to open the app to use it, and for smaller transactions you don’t even need to unlock your phone.
Google Pay has many benefits, including working for various smartphone brands like Samsung and being accepted in over 40 countries. Although, not all features are available in every country.
Samsung Pay
Like Google Pay, Samsung Pay is a tap-to-pay app that allows you to make contactless payments. However, it is only available to Samsung device owners. To use it, you have to unlock your device and swipe up to enter the PIN/passcode and then complete the transaction.
Samsung Pay has both NFC and MST technology. You can get reward points for each transaction made with Samsung Pay. Samsung Pay offers extra protection with Knox. Samsung Pay is pre-installed in most of the compatible Samsung devices.
Samsung Pay uses NFC technology to securely transfer a credit or debit card’s information to a NFC-enabled payment terminal. This is just like how an NFC-enabled card would work. However, what makes Samsung Pay so great is that it also works with traditional payment terminals and card machines. This is possible through the use of MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) technology. NFC is still a relatively new technology. This is especially true in emerging markets like India. Therefore, MST provides a much needed solution.
Vodafone Wallet
You who are Vodafone customers are also in luck. Not only will you be able to pay with their app but you will also have their loyalty card. The biggest downside of this app is that apart from requiring NFC like the others, only certain devices are compatible with it.
You also need to have an NFC SIM card, don’t forget to ask for it at the nearest Vodafone store. They emphasize that you can pay even without a battery in the terminal. You must also have Android 4.0 or higher.
BBVA Wallet
BBVA has been one of the banks that decided not to be left behind and have launched their own app so we can easily pay with our phones. We can also control our movements through the app. Paying with BBVA Wallet will give you access to exclusive promotions at places like The Phone House.
OrangeCash
Orange is another operator that is being pushed to create its own apps to offer additional services to its customers. And just like Vodafone, not only do you need to have an Android version higher than 4.0.3, but you also have to check if you have a compatible phone.
Lastly, you should also have an NFC SIM card which you can request at one of the companies. It offers mobile virtual card creation to make online payments and the possibility of paying at any POS that has contactless technology.