If there is anything in quantity in our iPhone, it is the payment methods. Bizum, transfer services… digital payments are already on the agenda and are so embedded in our daily lives that no one can imagine life without them. But as with WhatsApp and messaging, sometimes the most used payment methods are not the best.
When we talk about mobile payments, we must first and foremost talk about security, and Apple has its opinion on the most secure methods for making payments from the iPhone. Let’s see which methods are active in USA.
All the payment methods that Apple can integrate into its user accounts
Apple has a comprehensive list of payment methods divided by compatibility between countries that share something that gives them more security and simplicity: integrate with your Apple ID and its protocols. In USA we have five:
The first is obviously the one Apple promotes the most: Apple Pay. It accepts most cards and is anonymous, making it the most secure method you can use on your iPhone.
For now, we can use it to make purchases, but soon we could use it to defer payments for those same purchases or send money to others with Apple Cash. At the moment these are just rumors, but who knows if we will see it in a few weeks.
Apple also mentions the debit and credit cards even without integrating them with Apple Pay: we lose anonymity, but we continue to use a system that has a bank behind it. For example, you can save one of these cards as payment for your Apple subscriptions or for App Store purchases.
Some banks offer virtual bank cards, and Apple accepts them on its devices and services
Here we can also include the virtual cards that some banks offer as alternative methods: they are not physical cards that we can keep in our wallet, but they act like any bank card. They are especially safe for online purchases.
There is a special method for those who want to give the minimum data to Apple: cards with balance. It’s more work but it’s completely anonymous: we acquire cards with a balance to put in our Apple ID and we fill it if necessary. You can find these credit cards at many electronics stores, malls, and Apple stores and retailers.
PayPal is another great payment method that you can integrate with your Apple ID, as it hides all your bank details (cards and/or accounts) under one email address. Whoever bills you can only know this email address, nothing more.
And finally, you can reduce the hassle and delegate all the payments you make with your Apple account on your telephone operator’s bill. In USA, you can do this if you are an Orange, Movistar or Vodafone customer; and thus you avoid having to specify more payment data. The operator takes care of everything.
With this we do not mean that other payment methods are less secure, but we mean that with the ones that Apple mentions in this list, we have managed to integrate with their security systems. And anyone who has had trouble with an online payment knows that any precaution is a small thing.
