Everything you need to know about paying with your phone

It’s not so long ago that contactless card payments were exciting and new, but the technology is already old-hat. The new, better way to pay for things in shops? By using your phone to make a contactless payment—and if your bank supports it (it probably does), it is well worth setting up on your phone. 

Why? Because it’s significantly more secure than the flimsy piece of plastic in your wallet. This is because traditionally, when you have paid with a card tap or using a chip and pin machine, ultimately the shop you are buying from will be noting down all of your card details, so it knows which bank account to take the money from. 

And this could be a problem—it means that if the shop is hacked, or plays fast and loose with its data, you could inadvertently find your card number exposed to the world.

Phone payments, by contrast, are smarter: When you tap to pay with your device, it generates a unique ID number for that transaction and sends that instead. So you can pay for your goods, the shop can get your money, and no one needs to share any sensitive data. Brilliant.

It’s also more effective against the threat of rogue taps. If a pickpocket steals your card they can immediately go on a spending spree. But if they get your phone, when the phones goes to pay it will typically perform a biometric check—it will ask for a finger-print or use the camera to look at your face, to check that you are who you say you are. 

And phone payments are increasingly convenient too: Because of this added security, the limit is typically higher than for contactless cards. In the UK, it’s around £100 for most retailers—though some shops including most supermarkets let you spend much more with just a tap of the phone. 

Want to give it a try? All you’ll need is an iPhone that has either a fingerprint sensor or FaceID (except for the iPhone 5S), or if you have an Android you’ll have to check with your manufacturer—though if you’ve upgraded your phone any time in the last 5 years, chances are that you’re good to go.

Then to actually set things up, go to your Wallet app and follow the instructions. Typically this starts by scanning your card with your phone, and it will automatically recognise the numbers and connect with your bank. Here, setup varies depending on your bank’s requirements, but this usually means an extra step where you have to accept terms and conditions, and then receive a text message with a special code on it.

And then, well, you’re done. Just go to the shops and when you pay, hold your phone over the payment machine (sometimes your phone will make you press a button—like the iPhone will have you double tap the standby button on the side), and pay for your goods! Easy!