Apple Wallet Isn’t the Same as Apple Pay: Here’s How They’re Different – Engadget

Apple Pay and Apple Wallet have different features, although the two names are often used interchangeably. Apple Wallet is an iPhone app (with a companion tool for Apple Watch) that acts as a digital wallet for storing digital versions of debit and credit cards, auto insurance cards, boarding passes, ID cards, and more. Apple Pay, on the other hand, is Apple’s digital payment service that allows you to use your cards to make purchases at a physical location or online.

To use Apple Pay in a store, you touch your iPhone to the NFC terminal and press a button Side button twice. Your iPhone will then confirm it’s you using Face/Touch ID or PIN to complete the purchase. Using Apple Pay online is similar to using services like PayPal, where you select a card and are authenticated. No matter what or where you buy, you use Apple Pay to buy something with the card stored in your Apple Wallet.

The wallet can also store many items that are not directly related to payments, such as concert tickets or store loyalty cards. In this case, it acts as a safe place to store these items and provide easy access to them.

Using a payment card with Apple Pay involves more than just storing your card information in Apple Wallet and sharing it with the merchant. Instead, it creates a unique Device Account Number (DAN) for each card and stores it in the Secure Element, a chip on your device to safely store sensitive information.

When you make a payment, Apple sends the DAN to the merchant along with a one-time security code specific to that transaction. The store will never see your real credit or debit card number. And Apple’s servers don’t continue to identify information about you with your transaction history.

This is why an authentication step is required when using Apple Pay. Face ID can be inconvenient when paying with a tap on a terminal, so you may want to scan your face before using the NFC touch point. As a fallback, you can use your password instead. Confirmation is also required for online purchases, be it the App Store, ordering food in an app, or purchasing through Safari. Apple Wallet overlaps with the payment process because you can choose any card you have in your wallet.

You can check the last four digits of your card’s unique device account number in Apple Wallet. Open Apple walletselect a card and tap the icon button with three dots (…) followed by Map details. There, click Card informationand after authenticating with Face ID you will see Apple Pay last four digits below. You can use this to differentiate Apple Pay purchases from other ways you can use your card.

Sending money to a friend or family member is a feature of Apple Cash that’s connected to Apple Pay. With Apple Cash, you can send or request money via iMessage or directly through the Apple Cash card in your wallet using Tap to Cash. It’s as simple as choosing someone from your contacts, entering the amount you want to send, and being authenticated. Of course, the contact’s phone number must be associated with their Apple account, and they must be eligible for Apple Cash.

Once you’ve got some money, you’ll have access to your Apple Cash “card,” which is usually located at the top of your Apple Wallet. From its menu, you can top up your account using a debit card, set up recurring payments to others, or transfer to your bank. Apple Cash is not a universal payment service; this is only good for those who have Apple devices. If the recipient only has Android, you’ll have to use another service, like Venmo.

As we’ve seen, Apple Wallet and Apple Pay often interact, but are separate and serve different functions. Apple Wallet stores all your digital payment options. Apple Pay is a way to pay merchants or make online purchases. Apple Cash is a way to send money to friends or family.