支付不能承受之輕 Apple Pay使用初體驗

There is little doubt that the new Apple Watch stole the show during the company’s big event on September 9, but it was the introduction of Apple Pay, its contact-less mobile payment system, that was the most intriguing. For years, the ability to seamlessly pay for goods with your phone has been more fiction than reality, marred by clumsy interfaces and spotty support. With the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS, Apple AAPL 1.55% was finally throwing its hat into the ring. Could the technology company accomplish what so many others have not?

在蘋果公司（Apple）9月9日舉行的發佈會上，新產品Apple Watch無疑搶盡了風頭，但與Apple Pay相比，它只能算是個暖場，蘋果的無接觸式移動支付系統纔是最迷人的新東西。多年以來，由於界面粗糙、支持坑坑窪窪，手機無縫支付始終停留在理論階段。憑藉最新版的iOS手機操作系統，蘋果終於正式進軍這一市場。這家技術巨頭能夠實現其他衆多公司尚未實現的夢想嗎？

Last week, we were finally able to find out when iOS 8.1 hit the airwaves. Apple Pay comes with support from a number of banks, credit Card companies, and big-box retailers. The list is exhaustive: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Wells Fargo, Citi, Capital One, Foot Locker, Walgreens, Macy’s, and McDonald’s each promise to accept the new payment method. Naturally, the first thing I wanted to do was test it out in the real world.

隨着iOS 8.1在上週強勁推出，我們終於有機會一探究竟。Apple Pay已經獲得美國各大銀行、信用卡公司及零售巨頭的全面支持，而且個個來頭不小：維薩（Visa）、萬事達（MasterCard）、美國運通（American Express）、富國銀行（Wells Fargo）、花旗（Citi）、第一資本（Capital One）、富樂客（Foot Locker）、沃爾格林（Walgreens）、梅西百貨（Macy’s）和麥當勞（McDonald’s）等，均承諾接受新的支付方式。於是很自然地，我腦海裏冒出的第一個念頭就是去真實體驗一把Apple Pay。

Initial setup for Apple Pay is fairly simple. The application asks if you want to use the same payment information used for buying apps in Apple’s App Store and media in iTunes to purchase physical goods. I agreed with a tap of my finger, but chose to add more cards to the service while I was at it. (You can add up to eight accounts.) The process works like so: snap a photo of your card with the iPhone’s camera, then enter a few extra pieces of information to confirm your identity. It was smooth sailing for my American Express card, but my Chase card gave the app trouble, due to its funky sideways layout. So I hand-keyed the information in, like a technophilic caveman, and waited for a verification code to arrive as a text message. Finally, I attempted to add my Simple debit card, but was promptly greeted by a message informing me that the bank didn’t support Apple Pay. Bummer.

Apple Pay的初始設置非常簡單。程序會提示你是否願意在購買實體商品時採用你在蘋果App Store和iTunes中使用的支付信息。我按了“同意”，但是決定再添加幾張我常用的銀行卡（最多可添加八個賬號）。具體流程是：使用iPhone相機拍下你的銀行卡，然後準確輸入相關信息，認證身份。其中，運通銀行卡的操作非常順利，可大通銀行卡由於前衛的豎版設計導致程序出錯。於是，我不得不原始地手動輸入信息，等着接受驗證碼短信。最後，我試着添加我的Simple借記卡，結果馬上收到短信，提示說銀行不支持Apple Pay。鬱悶。

It took me less than five minutes to set up Apple Pay. Then I set out to test it in my Colorado town. My first stop was at a local restaurant where I frequently dine. After eating a meal and receiving the bill, I asked, “Do you accept Apple Pay?” The clerk, unsure of herself, responded with hesitation: “Um, we use iPads and can swipe your card.” Fair enough, I thought, this is the first day of living in a post-wallet world. I handed over my plastic debit card.

我花了不到5分鐘就設置好了Apple Pay，然後起身出發，準備在這個科羅拉多的小鎮進行一番實地測試。我的第一站是自己經常光顧的一家本地餐館。吃完飯結賬時，我問：“可以用Apple Pay付款嗎？”那位女服務員一頭霧水，猶猶豫豫地說：“哦，我們使用iPad，可以刷你的銀行卡。”好吧，我想，這畢竟是我進入“後錢包時代”的第一天。然後我遞上我的借記卡付了賬。

On the way home I stopped to get gas. After refueling my car, I held up my iPhone to the payment terminal, finger firmly placed over the Touch ID sensor. I waited for something to happen. My efforts were futile. I inserted my debit card.

在回家的路上，我停下來加油。加好油後，我對着付款終端舉起iPhone手機，手指緊緊按住Touch ID指紋識別感應器。我滿心期待着會出現什麼。結果什麼也沒有。我只得再插入我的借記卡。

The next day I made a stop at Panera Bread, the national fast casual food chain, where it is widely advertised that Apple Pay is accepted. I walked into the store and noticed three cash registers affixed with signs stating that they were contact-less payment ready. Jackpot! Waiting in line, I rehearsed in my head how the transaction play out. Do I tell the clerk what I’m doing? Or do I just just hold my phone over the signature pad (which doubles as a reader of near-field communications technology, the tech at work with Apple Pay) as if this is something I’ve done my entire life? Will the future always be the source of so much anxiety?

第二天，我在快餐連鎖店Panera Bread就餐，發現該公司在大肆宣傳可接受Apple Pay付款。我走進店裏，看見三臺收銀機貼上了接受無接觸式付款的標誌，不禁心裏歡騰了一下！排隊的時候，我不停在腦海裏演練着如何操作。我需不需要跟收銀員提前打個招呼？還是說裝作很熟練地直接把手機放在簽名板上（它同時可用作Apple Pay近場通訊技術的閱讀器）？以後買單的時候，我還會這麼緊張嗎？

It came time for me to pay. I held my phone above the signature pad and watched as my iPhone’s screen flashed with a picture of my card and then went black. That was it. I had just made my first payment with Apple Pay and it happened so fast I didn’t even have time to have one of my rehearsed conversations with the clerk. If nothing else, paying with my iPhone was too easy. My amazement was interrupted as I was handed a paper receipt to place in my wallet.

終於輪到我了。我把手機舉到簽名板上面，看到iPhone的屏幕閃出了我的銀行卡圖片，然後又變黑了。完事了。我剛剛用Apple Pay進行了人生中的“處女付”，結果一切發生太快，我都沒來得及對收銀員說出我排練了很久的臺詞。總而言之，用iPhone付款太簡單了。直到收到小票，放回錢包，我才如夢初醒。

I tried to use Apple Pay at every point of purchase for the rest of the week. Living outside of a major metropolitan area, I’ve grown accustomed to local businesses being behind the technological curve. I hoped Apple Pay would be different. Alas, that’s not the case. Two weeks later, my local businesses are no closer to embracing the future as they had been.

於是，這周我試着在所有買單的場合用Apple Pay付款。由於住在遠離大都市的偏遠小鎮，我已經習慣了當地的商戶總是在技術上落後半拍。我曾經希望Apple Pay是一個例外。可惜，結果卻並非如我所願。兩週後，我們當地的商戶還是沒有半點動靜，就和以前一樣。

The shift to mobile payments isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight, of course. It won’t even happen over the course of a few months. Apple Pay has arguably made a bigger splash its predecessors, but there’s more work to be done across the entire field. The fact that retailers are disabling NFC readers at the checkout stand—which renders Apple Pay useless—speaks volumes when you consider Google Wallet has been around for a few years and those same retailers never batted an eye at customers using it. On the one hand, Apple Pay seems to be breaking through. On the other, retailers are creating new roadblocks for consumers who want to pay using digital means.

當然，我們不能奢望移動支付一夜間普及，甚至未來幾個月都可能實現不了這一點。Apple Pay的問世也許比它的前輩們更轟動一時，但整個行業還有很長的路要走。一些零售商在結賬臺禁用近場通訊閱讀器，使得Apple Pay無法發揮作用，這種做法頗值得玩味。谷歌錢包（Google Wallet）幾年前就已問世，而這些零售商也一直無動於衷。Apple Pay似乎正在取得突破，但另一方面，零售商們正在爲那些希望用數字渠道支付的消費者設置新的障礙。

The only other transaction I was able to use Apple Pay for, by the way, was at McDonald’s. I took my kids out for some ice cream. Neither the clerk nor my kids cared how I paid for the tasty treat. Perhaps neither should I—and perhaps that’s the point.

順便提一下，我僅有的兩筆Apple Pay支付記錄中的另一筆是在麥當勞。我帶着孩子們去買冰激凌，收銀員和孩子們都沒在意我是怎麼付款的，或許連我自己也不應當（對怎麼付款）大驚小怪—— 又或，這纔是問題所在。