So this might be a dumb question, but is Apple Pay used much in India yet? It would be awesome to be able to use it instead of carrying cash, but I guess it takes a long time to roll out from cities to smaller places.
As you rightly pointed out, Apple pay is not used widely in India as things like this take longer to roll out. Hence it would be advisable for you to carry cash for the easy and convenience.
Thanks - I was hoping not to have to carry cash if possible (other than small amounts), I've got so used to doing everything here with my Apple watch. For some reason, even though the watch is probably worth more than any amount of cash I'd ever carry, I feel more vulnerable having actual money on me!
What is Apple Pay? Is it like PayPal? I've found that there are a lot of small shops in the US that allow you to pay for goods using PayPal.
I haven't heard of it either! I mainly just use my debit card which is Visa enabled when I travel, and I haven't found difficulties with acceptability anywhere I've travelled to yet. Also, the good thing for me about operating through Visa is that if I have any fraudulent charges or anything like that, I just have to contact my financial institution and they investigate and can get the funds back if it's fraud. That peace of mind helps me!
I use my personal debit card when travelling, as well. However, you have to make sure you let your bank know, because they may put blocks on it, due to suspicious activity.
Oh yes, I've had that happen to me once before when I was traveling and forgot to let them know! I think it's just a fraud precaution on their end of things. Nowadays when I travel I let my bank know where I am headed and the dates I am headed there, as well as any stopovers (where I might be using my card in an airport, for instance). Then they just leave a note on my account so they're aware I'm overseas!
Yah I would advised carrying cash or some change with you because Apple pay still isn't a popular thing in India.
It's basically a contactless way of paying for things with the technology inside your iPhone or Apple Watch. You tap the device on the payment reader (like where you would put in your number for 'chip and PIN') and the payment goes through instantly. I love it because it's so quick and you don't have to faff about with plastic cards, having the right cash or needing change etc. But it obviously depends on where you live as to how much you can use it.
I recently just learned about this from a friend (I'm not an owner of any Apple products). The poor dear fell asleep on the subway and woke up without her bag. Some kind soul covered her with newspaper, but some other not-so-kind one stole from her! She used Apple Pay to survive the weekend. The same friend told me to always carry cash when going around places you've never been to before.
