I used to hate mobile payments until I lost my wallet in Chicago

Last month I had my wallet stolen at a train station in Chicago and was stuck with no cash or cards. I always thought mobile pay apps were just a gimmick for tech people, but I had no choice but to try Google Pay on my phone. To my surprise, it worked at Walgreens and the L train ticket machine without any hassle. Has anyone else had a situation where mobile payments saved them in a pinch?

3 comments

3 Comments

wade_perez1mo ago

That Walgreens thing surprised me too when I first tried it. I always figured those tap readers would reject a phone payment but mine went through smooth. Did you have to log into anything extra at the train ticket machine or did it just work like a regular tap? I'm still paranoid about my battery dying mid-transaction so I keep a backup card in my car just in case.

kais6729d agoMost Upvoted

The REAL thing nobody talks about is how phone payments actually work BETTER than cards in sketchy readers. Because phones use a different security token every transaction, those skimmer devices that steal card data can't clone your phone payment. Same reason why I intentionally use my phone at gas station pumps and random ATMs. And about the battery thing - most phones will let you make a few tap payments even after showing 0% because the NFC chip runs on a separate little reserve charge. Apple calls it Express Mode, Android has something similar. So if your phone dies at the ticket machine, it'll probably still work as long as you tap it within a minute or two of the shutdown.

leow9026d ago

Wait, hold on, the NFC chip runs on a separate charge even when the phone is dead? Ngl, that sounds like straight up magic to me. I've had coworkers tell me their phone died right when they needed to pay for parking and I always figured they were screwed. That's honestly wild if it actually works like that. I gotta test that out myself one day with my own phone just to see if it's real.