Apple Pay - My Initial Experience

Published August 10, 2021

I recently became an Apple Pay member. Having an Apple Pay credit card (or should I say, line of credit) is a whole new way of life for me. For the record, I don’t use credit cards. Being the old-school, Low-Tech Grandma that I am, I use either cash or debit. I don’t like to be beholden to any financial institution if I can help it.

Why Get Apple Pay?

My iPhone 6S Plus was showing signs of crapping out on me. The camera, the one feature I used the most, would not focus properly. It would only focus on close up shots. Anything in the distance was blurry. This occurred on videos also. Who wants to watch blurry videos of the grandkids?

So, rather than continue to suffer with blurry photos, I decided to get a new iPhone. I really wanted to wait until the fall when Apple released the iPhone 13 and the prices of older models dropped, but the blurry photos were too much to take.

Opening the Coffers for an iPhone

I did ample research and decided to go for the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Since my last iPhone lasted 5 years, I’m hoping this one will last even longer. It’s an expensive piece of equipment.

While on the Apple website, I saw the advertisement for Apple Pay. If approved for Apple Pay, I could get 3% of my purchase back as cash. Hmmm, a saving is a saving, so I applied. Within minutes I had an Apple Pay card (underwritten by Goldman Sachs) to purchase the iPhone.

Remaining out of Debt

On July 27th, I purchased the iPhone and a couple of accessories. On July 28th, the 3% cashback was deposited into my Apple Cash account. As it is my habit to remain out of debt, on July 29th I paid the outstanding balance.

My bank debited my account and sent the money to Apple. Apple confirmed they received the money. All is well and good. However, Apple, er, I mean Goldman Sachs, did not credit my account.

A couple of days went by and the credit card balance was not adjusted to show the payment. It has been quite some time since I used a credit card but I thought once the financial institution received the payment, within a short period of time the money was applied to the outstanding balance.

Calling Apple Pay (Goldman Sachs)

On July 31st I called Goldman Sachs to find out what was up. They told me the amount was scheduled to be released to the account on August 2nd. Huh? I don’t get it.

The customer service rep gave me the company line as to why the funds weren’t released. Something about the amount of payment or verbiage similar to that. Okay. I didn’t like the response, but accepted it and hung up. After all, it is a new account and in today’s environment of never-ending scams, it’s understandable.

More Apple Pay Lags

I decided to give Apple Pay a try at my local grocery store to get 2% cashback. I tried it on a couple of other purchases within that week (I do like being able to tap my phone to pay). As is my habit, I sent payment for those Apple Pay purchases. And, apparently as Apple Pay’s habit, they held onto the funds. This go ‘round the hold was 9 days long which prompted me to call them again.

Since the recent payments were smaller amounts, the excuse about the size of the payment wouldn’t hold water with me. Although the rep was pleasant, what came out of her mouth didn’t make sense to me. I would have to wait 3 more days for the payments to post to my account. The reason for not releasing the funds is that I’ve made too many payments. Huh?

Tracking Apple Pay Expenditures - Too Much Work

I then explained to the rep that it was my intention to use the Apple Pay card instead of my debit card to enjoy the cashback feature. As such, when I make a purchase, I make a payment. However, since the ebb and flow of the transactions and payments do not seem to be ebbing and flowing, I’ll pay off the small outstanding balance and shelf the card. It doesn’t seem to work for me.

I guess the Apple Pay card is good for the occasional purchase along with an occasional payment. With my philosophy and spending habits, I’ve found that it is not a good replacement for my debit card.

Interestingly enough, after my final conversation with the rep, I received a notification later that evening that all of my payments were released and applied to the account. Go figure!

Low-Tech Grandma and Apple Pay

Spending time with my grandkids is more fun than spending time tracking and chasing credits and debits. It was a nice experiment, but the Apple Pay card doesn’t fit my spending habits or expectations. I may dust it off down the line when I purchase the iPad Pro, but until then, it will remain on the shelf.

August 13, 2021 Update:

Well, someone must have heard me crabbing and complaining about the slow turn around time of applying payments to my account. This morning, I paid the small outstanding balance on my card and ...get this...the money was applied within seconds.

The money was applied so quickly that I wondered if it had a chance to leave my bank account. Wow! I was impressed! Simultaneously, I received an email confirming that my payment was received and applied to my account.

Guess who’s reconsidering using her Apple Pay card?

Last Modified: 3 September 2023