# Apple Pay 73 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple Pay and 48 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Recommended for fast, secure tap and online checkout that works almost everywhere. Common caveat: it needs a phone and fails at some merchants. ## Why people recommend it - Fast checkout with no PIN or unlocking (7 comments): "it's so much better for efficiency of payment, especially with things like Apple Pay where you don't even have to enter a PIN" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48793212)) "Apple Pay as the first payment mechanism I've used that reliably fulfills the promise of being faster/easier than cash" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46145241)) "Apple's transit functionality means you don't have to do anything other than tap your device without even unlocking" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48796072)) - Works in most countries and stores (7 comments): "I used it in four countries last year outside of the US - Costa Rica, Canada, UK and France without a problem." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46572251)) "iPhones have it worldwide, so a visitor to Japan can use Apple Pay to stand up a card and fund it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49467579)) "Google/Apple Pay works really, really well everywhere on the planet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47041441)) - Fewer fraudulent and unauthorized charges (3 comments): "Ever since I switched to nearly exclusively using Apple Pay for physical shopping I’ve had no unauthorized charges" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49859783)) "Apple Pay is better since using it leads to fewer disputes in the first place" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50021805)) "Apple Pay was a huge leap forward in preventing credit card info theft" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46216493)) - Easier than typing card details online (3 comments): "It knows address, only requires face id check. Adds shipping tracking. Works on every device I use." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46571735)) "Apple Pay is less friction for online purchases than entering my credit card info is" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50188855)) "adding a card from a different bank to Apple Pay was quick and painless" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50166668)) ## What people warn about - Declined at some merchants and banks (3 comments): "I've no problem using Apple Pay basically everywhere except Walmart." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48577099)) "the system wouldn't accept any of the credit cards or her debit card that she had registered with Apple Pay" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48275461)) "I've been to many places where the iPhone's contactless payment doesn't work but normal cards do." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538930)) - Apple controls access and blocks rivals (4 comments): "EU should have forced Google and Apple to allow people to use NFC pay without having Google or Apple accounts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48783489)) "Apple refuses to implement Pix on Apple Pay, and regulatory agencies are trying to change that..." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48059565)) "Trading a dependency on MasterCard and Visa for one on Google and Apple is at best a sidegrade." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48209375)) - Tracks and monetizes users (2 comments): "The purpose of Apple Pay from a privacy perspective is to prevent credit card theft by using tokens. In reality it's used to track you and monetize you." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45916713)) "They want our valuable transactional data, and location when those are made." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46970798)) - Breaks on names, phone numbers, missing fields (3 comments): "it replaces the phone number with a 1 at the beginning and drops the last number, then I get an error that something is wrong" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46728105)) "if you put an emoji in your name, you'll need to manually edit it every time you use Apple pay or it breaks the transaction" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46000398)) "your payments using Apple Pay will fail unless you fill all the information in manually" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46501927)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Wero](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wero.md): 84 recommend - [Google Pay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-pay.md): 26 recommend - [Google Wallet](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-wallet.md): 22 recommend - [Curve Pay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/curve.md): 22 recommend - [Swish payment app](https://hackerapproved.com/p/swish.md): 19 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.apple.com/apple-pay/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Apple Pay", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-pay/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).