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>NFC is extremely finicky and much slower

weird, must be a regional thing. both NFC cards and apple pay are pretty reliable for me. as for speed, I don't see how getting out your credit card and waving it next to a terminal can be slower than getting out your phone, unlocking it, opening wechat, selecting the qr scanner, lining up the camera, waiting for it to focus/scan, and confirming the transaction.




The difference is that for most people their phone is always in their pocket or easy to grab, 24/7. A credit card may be tucked away somewhere for emergencies, or left at home. I lost my credit card somewhere years ago and didn't care when I lived in China because the physical object was irrelevant. It's only when I got back to North America that I realized some retailers still awkwardly require you to present the physical thing.

Just like the phone made wrist watches and portable music devices obsolete, it's also made the wallet obsolete. I agree that both NFC and QR code are equally convenient (although obviously QR codes are more accessible because they work on all phones and no special scanning devices are required), but I think the main issue is with NFC in a card versus NFC in a phone. The phone is always going to be more convenient, because people today are rarely - if ever - without their phone.


WeChat's QR scanning is basically instant and doesn't need to be lined up. In my experience, it basically has scanned and processed the QR code when I've barely realized I got it in view.

Regarding NFC, I've just seen too many times of having to put the phone in the right place in the right orientation to get the communication to work, and then it still takes time to make the payment. It's faster than credit cards when it just works but slower when it doesn't. And Alipay and WeChat are faster than both.

In China, you don't need a wallet. You just need a phone. So you get used to knowing what you need. There's an initial learning curve, but then you can be paying and biking around and everything else with just your phone.




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