Is Apple Pay safe?
If effortlessly paying with your iPhone or Apple Watch easy enough to scare you, don’t worry: This is the normal and healthy response. I, too, was incredibly spooked the first time I used Apple Pay.
Fortunately, the process is much safer than its simplicity would suggest. Apple Pay’s inclusion of biometric certification—whether in the form of a fingerprint or a facial scan—is a rock-solid security measure that goes a long way in securing your finances.
When you add a card to the Wallet app using your iPhone’s camera, Apple does not save the photo anywhere on your phone. All of the corresponding information—the card number, expiration date, et cetera—is encrypted, sent to Apple’s servers, and re-encrypted before heading back out to its payment network. In fact, the merchant you happen to be buying from will never actually see your credit card numbers. You can read more about Apple’s dedication to Apple Pay privacy on its website.
Additionally, Apple does not track your purchases, nor does it collect your shopping habits.
Simply put, the security flaws that exist within the Apple Pay ecosystem are on par with the vulnerabilities present in most forms of electronic payment.