Google Pay

[GeoffF100]

I am happy to use plastic cards to pay, but I am interested to learn about Google Pay. Does anyone here use it?

The default behaviour seems to be that below a certain limit, you can wake up your phone by pressing the power button and place your phone on the card reader to make your payment. Above that limit, you have to unlock your phone (e.g. by giving your finger print) to make your payment.

There is said to be a setting that will disable NFC if your phone is unlocked. That ensures that authentication is required for all payments. If you do that, whoever has the phone cannot make payments without unlocking the phone.

Unlocking the phone carries the risk that someone will snatch it from you and run away with access to everything on the phone. There is said to be setting that will enable you to authenticate payments without unlocking your phone. You cannot do that if you have disabled NFC. I expect that means that payments below the limit can then be made without giving authentication.

I do not know how the limit for unauthenticated payments is set, or whether it is possible to change it (or indeed set it to zero). The behaviour seems to be dependent on the jurisdiction and probably on the bank. Barclaycard does not support Google Pay at all.

Any experience?

[y0rkiebar]

Yes, I use it pretty much for all debit transactions. I have it setup to use my Chase debit card, works well.

[GeoffF100]

Yes, I use it pretty much for all debit transactions. I have it setup to use my Chase debit card, works well.

What is their limit for making payments without unlocking your phone?

[genou]

There is said to be a setting that will disable NFC if your phone is unlocked.

It's the other way round. I think: you can require device unlock to use NFC at all. According to my installed wallet, the default limit for payments without unlocking the phone in the UK is £45, but your bank can apparently vary that. I have multiple cards in my wallet, also Season tickets/annual memberships, train/flight tickets, loyalty cards. I suspect I had Covid stuff in there at one point.

Using it in Ireland recently kept bringing me up short, because the contactless limit there is still €50, and I had get out real cards more frequently, which was a pain.

I think having to unlock for every payment would drive me bats.

It's a remarkably useful app.

[y0rkiebar]

Yes, I use it pretty much for all debit transactions. I have it setup to use my Chase debit card, works well.

What is their limit for making payments without unlocking your phone?

No idea to be honest.

And I believe it's been rebranded to Google Wallet recently. Edit: That's just the app.

[GeoffF100]

There is said to be a setting that will disable NFC if your phone is unlocked.

It's the other way round. I think: you can require device unlock to use NFC at all. According to my installed wallet, the default limit for payments without unlocking the phone in the UK is £45, but your bank can apparently vary that. I have multiple cards in my wallet, also Season tickets/annual memberships, train/flight tickets, loyalty cards. I suspect I had Covid stuff in there at one point.

Yes, you are right. Slip of the keyboard. Can you change the £45 default? I looked, but I do not think that a UK Driving Licence can be held in Google Wallet. The government appears to be looking into that, but they seem to want their own app. The are seem to fatally attracted to IT disasters. Did you just store images for the other stuff?

[genou]

It's the other way round. I think: you can require device unlock to use NFC at all. According to my installed wallet, the default limit for payments without unlocking the phone in the UK is £45, but your bank can apparently vary that. I have multiple cards in my wallet, also Season tickets/annual memberships, train/flight tickets, loyalty cards. I suspect I had Covid stuff in there at one point.

Yes, you are right. Slip of the keyboard. Can you change the £45 default? I looked, but I do not think that a UK Driving Licence can be held in Google Wallet. The government appears to be looking into that, but they seem to want their own app. The are seem to fatally attracted to IT disasters. Did you just store images for the other stuff?

I don't see a way to alter the contactless limit. The other stuff aren't images. From random memory, things like the season ticket, and Tate membership come as emails with an "add to Google Wallet" option. Loyalty cards you scan with your phone's camera. Flights and trains sometimes use Gmail integration. It all just works. Random collection of expired stuff that I can still see:

Avanti
Eurostar
Ryanair
Easyjet
Ticketmaster
Tate Modern
NHS Covid travel pass

The reason I tend to stick tickets in there is that they are then definitely on the phone, and I don't have the risk of some random app playing up at the wrong moment. For some stuff, like season tickets, I have a copy of 2 tickets on my phone and OH has the same two tickets on hers, so if one of us is not available, the other can get entry for a friend.

I'm not holding my breath for digital driving licences / passports.

[Lootman]

Using it in Ireland recently kept bringing me up short, because the contactless limit there is still €50, and I had get out real cards more frequently, which was a pain.

As someone who does not use their phone for anything financial, can you explain why flashing a phone is any easier than flashing a contactless card? Seems to me it is the same wrist action either way?

I'm not holding my breath for digital driving licences / passports.

Each to his own but I do not want to be trying to cross into some third world country with a digital passport and then my phone freezes, as it is did for me one time last year. And then I get thrown into a border control holding cell.

Phones are great but I will always want non-digital backup.

[Stompa]

As someone who does not use their phone for anything financial, can you explain why flashing a phone is any easier than flashing a contactless card? Seems to me it is the same wrist action either way?

Indeed. I spent a while using Google Wallet for card transactions, but have now reverted to using the cards themselves. With Wallet you do get a handy transaction history, but it's hardly essential.

Wallet does work well for rail tickets though.

[pje16]

I use Google wallet, but turn off NFC when finished paying, as it drains battery life

https://www.valuewalk.com/why-you-shoul ... martphone/

[genou]

Using it in Ireland recently kept bringing me up short, because the contactless limit there is still €50, and I had get out real cards more frequently, which was a pain.

As someone who does not use their phone for anything financial, can you explain why flashing a phone is any easier than flashing a contactless card? Seems to me it is the same wrist action either way?

You have to get the card out of the wallet, or you get told "please present only one card". Also, you have to have the wallet with you, but that wasn't an issue in Ireland. When I'm out locally, it's not unusual not to have a wallet with me at all.

I'm not holding my breath for digital driving licences / passports.

Each to his own but I do not want to be trying to cross into some third world country with a digital passport and then my phone freezes, as it is did for me one time last year. And then I get thrown into a border control holding cell.

Phones are great but I will always want non-digital backup.

As I say, I don't expect them anywhere any time soon. I suspect I'll have been composted by the time third world countries are getting there.

Went to Sainsbury's this morning. Shopping list was on phone. That list is shared with OH and was updated by her while I was walking to the shop. Shopping was scanned in on Sainsbury's app on the phone, so straight in to bag, handled once. Then paid for by waving the phone.

[GeoffF100]

Using it in Ireland recently kept bringing me up short, because the contactless limit there is still €50, and I had get out real cards more frequently, which was a pain.

As someone who does not use their phone for anything financial, can you explain why flashing a phone is any easier than flashing a contactless card? Seems to me it is the same wrist action either way?

I shop every couple of days at the supermarket that is a short walk up the road. I do not take my mobile phone with me. A few cards wrapped tightly in a plastic bag is more convenient.

I have a friend who (like genou) is using google wallet with Chase. She believes that it is more secure to pay with the mobile phone, because she has to unlock it to make a payment and that a finger print is more secure than a PIN. (She does not appear to have tried to make a payment without unlocking her phone.) She keeps her cards locked away at home in case she loses her phone.

[GrahamPlatt]

Made me think of this -

https://xkcd.com/538/

Yes, card PIN, ‘phone unlock, whatever, a hammer is the cheapest hacking method.