New
#1
Seeing how a lot of apps are not available for the Windows Phone I'm not sure about the success of this even after the July 29th release.
Earlier this week, Microsoft began rolling out a new version of its Wallet app for Windows 10 Mobile devices, adding support for Tap to Pay mobile payments. This is good news, but credit card support is currently lacking, rendering the feature useless for many.
To be fair to Microsoft, Tap to Pay support in Windows 10 Mobile is currently available only to Windows Insiders. That means that it won’t be a real world OS feature until the Anniversary update ships on or around July 29, bringing Windows 10 Mobile to version 1607.
By that time, hopefully, more credit and debit cards will be supported. Today, the list is eclectic and pretty short: Bank of America and US Bank are the only major banks supported, while BECU (a Boeing credit union), First Tech, Fifth Third Bank, People’s United Bank, and Virginia Credit Union round are bringing up the rear.
I don’t have any credit or debit cards from those banks. I do have two Chase VISA cards for some reason, but Chase is listed as “coming soon.” But I scanned in six cards—one debit, five credit—just in case. None worked.
That changed my focus, as I was originally going to go out into the world, find a place that wouldn’t mind letting me take a few photos, and actually test this feature in the real world. But with that not happening, I decided to see how Microsoft Wallet compared to competing offerings from Apple and Google...
Read more: Microsofts Mobile Payment Solution Falls Short in Early Testing - Thurrott.com
Seeing how a lot of apps are not available for the Windows Phone I'm not sure about the success of this even after the July 29th release.
The thing that's so bizarre about this to me, other than the fact that FINALLY AFTER FOUR FREAKING YEARS THIS IS A THING NOW, is that Microsoft is figuratively and literally banking on Wallet 2.0. They already have a promo video with the tagline of "Tap, pay, and be on your way." Which I'll admit, it's clever, but in the whole grand scheme of things, it's not even a good enough selling point for the platform. It's taken such a giant self-inflicted internal beating that the situation isn't one which Microsoft gave up on mobile, the consumer space gave up on Microsoft trying to figure it out every fiscal year.
Let alone this, the fact that they even have the audacity to have a website in which if you're a bank or a retailer and want to get something set up to harness Microsoft Wallet is just silly. A platform with less than 4ish percent global marketshare, next to nothing in the US, and a public statement where they officially stated they're retracting from the mobile space.... It makes absolutely no sense. It would have been better to adapt this for the PC, where bajillions of dollars of online dollars are spent. Harnessing Windows Hello to access Microsoft Wallet on the PC to pay for an Amazon Prime Now shipment would have been a more sensible thing to have done.
But oh well.