Having finally got an android phone which has NFC on it again, I’m thinking of using it for paying for things like I do with my contactless cards using Google Pay.
For those who live in london and use contactless on the buses and trains, is it just as easy to use as a contactless bank card?

The only potential problem I can foresee is if someone steals your phone, but they’re limited to £30 max per transaction, yes?

Any downsides or pitfalls you can think of?
Anyone had a trouble with it, bank accounts being emptied etc.

I use Apple Pay but yes its essentially the same as a contactless card. You just bleep your phone to pay for buses, trains, pubs etc … works great, I’ve never had a problem using the phone to pay contactless, I often leave the house without a wallet, just my phone. Contactless is well supported in London even street food vendors use it. I love it!

Do you not have to authorise the payment on Google Pay with your finger print or passcode? That’s how it works with Apple Pay, so its more secure than a bank card as the thief can’t pay for anything or get any information about your bank card from your phone. And if the business supports proper Apple/Google pay rather than just contactless then you can pay items more than £30. Eg I bought a new car for my mum with my phone, Salesman thought I was pulling some magic trick on him and got his manager to check the payment was all good and aboveboard 🙂

You have to unlock your phone for Google pay to work and even then if it’s doing something with resource intensive in the background it won’t normally work anyway.

This mainly annoys me on the tube when I usually have Google Maps running and I end up having to fish my debit card out anyway.

It’s great, means I don’t take my wallet everywhere and can still buy some odds and sods on the way home on the bike, of back when I was walking a wee baby to sleep, I could pop in to the shops without having planned it.

Once or twice I’ve had issues and had to fish a card out. Once the transaction cancelled itself and a few times the reader plays up saying I’m moving the card too fast.

Only need to wake the phone for Google Pay, don’t have to unlock it generally. Though higher amounts supposedly you have to unlock it but I find the terminal still limits to £30 when I’ve tried.

Barclays cards don’t work with it as they have a disagreement with Google. Barclays have their own app, though apparently this has higher limits.

Also on the tube, there’s more of a delay tapping in, it’s faff to wake the phone first and most times it would fail on first tap so have to do it again, much to annoyance of those behind. So I use a card instead. Remember to tap out also and use the same card or phone you tapped in with!

The original defined standard NFC payment system worked even if the phone was off or out of battery as it relied on a special SIM and antenna in the battery, but then there’s no app involved that Google / Apple can harvest usage data, so it wasn’t popular.

Only need to wake the phone for Google Pay, don’t have to unlock it generally. Though higher amounts supposedly you have to unlock it but I find the terminal still limits to £30 when I’ve tried.

I have had it work for a higher amount – I bought something for ~£39 on it the other day and was astonished when it went through – but you’re right, it relies on the till not just blindly removing it as an option over £30.

The original defined standard NFC payment system worked even if the phone was off or out of battery as it relied on a special SIM and antenna in the battery

Earlier phones (and my watch) didn’t have NFC, so I got a bPay Loop which attaches to my watch strap. That was great in that it was passive, I didn’t need power. However, it was also a bit shit because it worked like a top-up card even though it was tied to my bank card.

They’ve deprecated bPay now and are moving over to PingIt (which is slightly irritating as my Loop snapped and I can’t get a replacement until they migrate “later in the year”), it’ll be interesting to see what they do with it then.

“contactless on the buses and trains”

Please don’t do this during rush hour. The system relies on a smooth flow of people through the gates. Even a few seconds whilst you mess with your phone or wait for it to fail and retry causes queues to build up. Or worse try to use a smart watch and then rummage in your bag for you phone when it fails.

Yes, I’m going to not do something for my convenience for every one else’s convenience. I’m sure people will cope just fine with my very occasional bumblings.
Tried it out at the local shops at lunchtime, it worked fine.