While contactless payments may be the trend of this day and age, it definitely is not the future, as it’s security features are even worse than the traditional chip and pin transactions.
Since they don’t require a pin, any person with a modified miniature EVM machine can steals your funds, by just tapping your pocket, where you keep your wallet and credit cards.
One can assert with absolute certainity that mobile Point Of Service (mPOS) and human microchipping are not only the future on digital transactions but indeed the very next step in the evolution of mankind.
Android Pay may be an outdated version of Google Pay, but is still better than some of the so called advanced mobile payment services out there.
Apple Wallet on the other hand is not really a mPOS, but a storage facility for your plastic.
It is very much similar to your physical wallet, where you store all your credit and debit cards and swipe them at the payment terminal, whenever you make a purchase.
The only difference being, you will be storing the cards in a digital format, either manually or by scanning your card and not physically, like a real wallet.
And it allows you to complete the transaction without having to fumble through your wallet looking for a credit card, thanks to Apple Pay.
These two services (Apple Wallet and Android Pay) might seem like they are the same, but they are not.
Here are some of the differences between Android Pay and Apple Wallet –
1, Android Pay works on an Account to Account Real Time Payment (A2A RTP) system, where as Apple Wallet works on a EMV Payment Tokenisation procedure.
2, Android Pay or Google Pay primarily deals with bank accounts, whereas Apple Pay or Wallet deals with credit or debit cards.
3, Android Pay is more popular in developing countries such as India and Srilanka, whereas Apple Wallet is more popular in developed countries such as US, UK and Canada.
4, Android or Google Pay started accepting credit cards only in August 2019, Apple Pay can work even without linking a bank account.
5, Android Pay can be downloaded from the Play Store as Google Pay, but Apple Wallet is an inbuilt app for iPhones or iPads and is only found on the App Store.
Currently, Android/Google Pay has more than 3 million stores in the US, that currently support their services with more being added all the time.
More than 1000 banks and credit unions in the United States including all the major banks support Android Pay with more being added every day.
Apple Wallet was released before Android Pay and it got a head start in adding banks and retailers as well as country support for Apple Pay.
Apple Pay is supported in more than 50 countries worldwide making it one of the most widely supported mobile payment service.
In terms of retailers, Apple Pay boasts having expanded to over 50% of all retailers.
All the major banks in the US support Apple Pay for their debit and credit cards.
This is a significant difference and a competitive edge for Apple Wallet against other virtual wallet providers.
The number of credit unions and small banks that support this service continue to grow every day.
Apple Pay currently has more than 70 million retailers that support the service.
When it comes to security, the two services are somehow similar and different at the same time.
Many people are confused by this asking how?
With Apple Wallet used alongside Apple Pay, it requires a fingerprint scan to authorize and complete a transaction from the smartphone.
This is done to ensure the security of all the transactions from your device making sure these payments are not made by anyone else.
With Android Pay, a fingerprint scan is not required to authorize a transaction,but if your device has a fingerprint scanner, you can set and use it to authorize transactions.
If your device doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner, you can set a PIN or passcode to authorize the transactions.
There are other options available for newer android devices like face recognition, pattern or iris scan depending on the screen security settings on your device.
As the digital wallets become tougher every day, the consumer is the ultimate winner with the option to choose any of the services they want to use.
One advantage with Android pay over Apple Pay is that you get reward points the more you use it.
The consumer can research on the best of the services in terms of service, security, ease of use, convenience and other distinct features.