How to Set Up and Use Apple Pay

Apple Pay is a way to pay at the store or online by holding your iPhone (or Apple Watch) near the card reader instead of pulling out a plastic card. It works anywhere you see the contactless-payment symbol — four curved lines, like a Wi-Fi icon turned on its side — which is now at nearly every US grocery store, pharmacy, gas pump, and restaurant.

Apple Pay is more secure than your physical credit card. When you pay, Apple sends a one-time code to the store instead of your real card number. Even if the store is hacked later, your actual card number is not exposed. You also confirm each payment by looking at your iPhone (Face ID) or double-tapping the side button (Apple Watch), so a thief cannot tap your phone to pay.

Setting up takes about 5 minutes and is free — Apple Pay does not charge you to use it, and your normal credit card rewards and cashback still apply exactly the same. You add your existing cards from your wallet to an app called Wallet on the iPhone. You can add multiple cards and pick which one to use each time.

Paying is where Apple Pay really shines. At the register, when the cashier says "total is $24.17," you hold your iPhone near the card reader and glance at it to confirm with Face ID (or double-click the side button on an Apple Watch). You hear a little chime and see a green checkmark. That is it — the whole transaction takes about 2 seconds.

Apple Pay is accepted almost everywhere in the US. If you walk up to a register and do not see the contactless symbol, use your regular card that time. You can tell the cashier "I was going to use Apple Pay" and they will usually point out the right reader. Target, Walmart (finally), Costco, CVS, Walgreens, McDonald's — all accept it.