In the era of smartphones' omnipresence and ubiquity, it should come as no surprise that one of their features has become the option to pay with them. Beyond the basic questions about security, there's also the issue of how to pay with your phone. ☎️💸 How best to configure your smartphone for this purpose? You'll find out everything from the guide below.
Before you get caught up in a shopping frenzy – we need to go through some essential concepts related to contactless payments. 🧐 NFC (Near Field Communication) comes to the forefront – it's one of a phone's attributes that allows connection with devices in close proximity (and it doesn't necessarily have to be another smartphone), but rather… a payment terminal. From there, it's a straight path to configuring payments on individual smartphones. As you can correctly infer – you have two paths to choose from, and of course, they are related to your phone's software. The process of adding and using contactless payments is essentially the same in both cases. What will you need to start your smartphone shopping spree? ⚔️📱
- A smartphone ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
- A bank account, specifically a debit/credit card linked to it
- The instructions below!
🤖 Android: how to pay with Google Pay 🤖
Does your smartphone support NFC payments? Do you use the Android system? 🦾 If you answered yes to the above questions, then the path leads towards Google Pay. Using the service is completely free, and it works exactly like this:
- Check if you are using a relatively recent version of the Android system (Lollipop 5.0 or newer)
- Download the Google Pay app from the Google Play store.
- Follow the app's instructions.
- Add your preferred debit card. Voila!
You can learn more about how to pay with Google Pay and about the service itself here: https://pay.google.com/intl/pl_pl/about/
🍏 iOS: how to pay with Apple Pay 🍏
The other side of the barricade offers essentially the same conveniences, and the configuration is almost identical. Here, the only requirement is to have an iPhone that supports Touch ID (i.e., models above 5s). 👉👈 The process is as follows:
- Download/open the Wallet app on your phone.
- Naturally, follow the set instructions.
- Add a card (you can type in the number manually or scan it with the camera).
- After successful bank verification (which should be quick), you can enjoy contactless payments.
You will also find all the necessary information on the dedicated page: https://www.apple.com/en/apple-pay/
What alternatives? How to pay with your phone without NFC? 💵
While the above methods are the "default" ways to pay with a smartphone, there are still a few substitutes, even for models where the NFC standard is absent. Here, we give a nod to a local payment method, which is BLIK. 🇵🇱 This is a mobile payment system where a six-digit code is generated during a transaction, serving as a method of verifying that payment. The vast majority of banks have this option, which is why it's one of the options/alternatives you can also consider.
Did we miss anything? Which option do you use most often? How much can't you imagine life without mobile payments anymore? 💸 Let us know!
