If there is something in quantity in our iPhone, that is payment methods. Bizum, transfer services… digital payments are already the order of the day and have become so ingrained in our daily lives that no one can imagine life without them. But as with WhatsApp and messaging, sometimes the most used payment methods are not the best.
When we talk about mobile payments we have to talk above all about security, and Apple has its opinion about which methods are the safest to make payments from the iPhone. Let’s see which methods are active in Spain.
All payment methods that Apple can integrate into its user accounts
Apple has a complete list of payment methods divided by compatibility between countries that share something that gives them more security and simplicity: integrate with your Apple ID and its protocols. In Spanish territory we have five:
The first is obviously the one that Apple promotes the most: Apple Pay. It accepts most cards and is anonymous, making it the most secure method you can use on your iPhone.
For now we can use it to make purchases, but soon we could use it to defer payments for those same purchases or send money to others with Apple Cash. At the moment they are only rumors, but who knows if we will see it in a few weeks.
Apple also mentions the debit and credit cards even without integrating them into Apple Pay: we lose anonymity, but we continue to use a system that has a bank behind it. For example, you can register one of these cards as a payment for your Apple subscriptions or for purchases from the App Store.
Some banks offer virtual bank cards, and Apple accepts them on its devices and services
Here we can also include the virtual cards that some banks offer as alternative methods: they are not physical cards that we can keep in our wallet but they do act like any bank card. They are especially safe for online purchases.
There is a special method for those who want to give the minimum amount of data to Apple: cards with balance. It is more work but it is completely anonymous: we are acquiring cards with a balance to place in our Apple ID and we are filling it in when appropriate. You can find these credit cards at many electronics stores, malls, and Apple stores and retailers.
PayPal is another interesting payment method that you can integrate with your Apple ID, because it hides all your bank details (cards and/or accounts) under an email address. Whoever charges you can only know that email address, nothing more.
And last but not least, you can reduce hassle and delegate all the payments you make with your Apple account. on your phone operator’s bill. In Spain you can do it if you are an Orange, Movistar or Vodafone customer; and thus you avoid having to specify more payment data. The operator takes care of everything.
With this we do not mean that other payment methods are less secure, but we do mean that with the ones that Apple mentions in this list we managed to integrate with their security systems. And whoever has had trouble with an online payment knows that all precaution is little.