Apple Pay in action

Apple Pay will take getting used to for consumers and merchants alike. These aren't insurmountable hurdles. The biggest difficulty is general acceptance, and Apple has managed to boost interest in mobile payments in a way Google and other rivals haven't been able to for years.

Easy to set up
Apple has the advantage of having millions of credit cards on file for its iTunes and app stores. Getting started was a matter of going to the Passbook app or "Passbook & Apple Pay" in the phone's settings. After choosing the option to add a card, I tapped "Use Card on File with iTunes." I then entered the three-digit security code from the back of my card.

You can have multiple cards on file. You can manually type in the details, but that's boring. Instead, just use the phone's camera to scan the card. I tried it with six different cards, and Apple Pay got the number right each time. In a few cases, it got the expiration date, too.

The scanning doesn't work as well in dark settings. Unfortunately, the phone's flashlight turns off when you try to scan the card with the camera. So wait for good lighting — and know you have to do this just once for each card.

Once scanned, the image is deleted, as is your card number. Instead, for increased security, you get a substitute number that's unique to the device. A hacker who gets that number won't be able to use it without physical possession of your phone.

One warning: It's possible your card won't work with Apple Pay. Not all banks support it, and even if the bank does, it might exclude some types of cards such as corporate or prepaid accounts. But Apple Pay works with most cards from leading US banks. The broad acceptance is one reason many people believe mobile payment is for real this time.

Using it in stores
About two dozen retail chains are accepting Apple Pay at launch, and others are planning to do so by the end of the year.

I was able to buy lunch at McDonald's on the third attempt. I tapped on the sensor too hard the first time. The second time, I moved the phone away from the reader as I was still authenticating the transaction. The phone told me to bring it closer.