Apple Pay - and Google Wallet - are secure ways of using our credit and debit cards. Far more secure than using the cards themselves. As we all know, credit card info is stolen on a routine basis, forcing users to cut them up and wait for new ones, causing limitless aggrevation while working with banks and credit unions to get illegal purchases reversed. Credit cards in other countries are more secure, with chip technology being the most common security solution. Wall Street and the big banks have ignored this problem for decades because the losses are less than 3% and all the angst is on the users and small issuing banks.  

WECU - the Whatcom Educational Credit Union - has just implemented Apple Pay for all its members. It started on Wednesday without fanfare. All I had to do was scan my WECU credit card into my iPhone 6 - didn't even need to go to the credit union.  I tapped the app - passbook - and it coached me to take a photo of my credit card. The app then displayed the credit card number and info for my approval.  I tapped ok and it was done.  

Then it was time to test it. Walgreens on Meridian enables both Apple and Googe payment systems. For my first time purchase, the register clerk, Sawyer, helped me. It was simple, but I did not know whether to touch or wave the phone near the credit card reader. With advice, I held the phone near the normal credit card reader at the check out counter and my phone came alive - displaying the credit card. I held the top of my phone within an inch of the graphic symbol (top of this article) that was on the card reader.  A nice "ding" sound told Sawyer that I had successfully paid, and my receipt was printed. It took about 2 seconds. You can look for these graphic symbols on credit card readers the next time you shop. The process with a smart phone is much faster than using a credit card.  

You can scan in credit cards and also debit cards.  You can scan in Visa, MasterCard and others.  When it comes time to pay, you tap - on your smart phone screen - the icon of the card you want to use.  Very cool.  

Is this article news or an advertisement?  It is news - and a nudge to local business owners to enable it for payment. This important new tech process has very real benefits to everyday people. It is a secure way of using cards and you can still use your old credit card separate from your phone. Within a couple years we will all be using this system routinely. Apple deserves credit for initiating this. 

WECU was not the first locally. Wells Fargo has it, as does Key Bank. If you know of another local bank that offers it, let me know and I'll list it here.

And here are links to Apple Pay and Google Wallet. They have great illustrations and clear text.