Apple Inc. recently released Apple Pay for iPhones and iWatches that allows users to make purchases with their mobile devices.
Through Apple Pay, credit card information is uploaded to the Passbook app and can be used with iPhone 6 and other mobile Apple devices.
Students at California Baptist University are questioning the benefit of Apple Pay and are wary about the security features promised to users.
Vanessa Vallo, freshman undeclared major, said she prefers using non-digital payment methods.
“It’s not worth it to have all my information on my phone and risk having my phone hacked,” Vallo said.
One of Apple’s methods of submitting initial credit card information is by sending a snapshot of the credit card. With recent news of celebrity photos being leaked on the Internet, Apple cannot guarantee that photos will be 100 percent secure.
“Why would I use a system that allows people to take my money if they try hard enough?” said Adam Diaz, freshman kineseology major.
Apple made sure that actual credit card numbers would never be used in Apple Pay transactions. Rather, a device account number is assigned and securely stored in a chip in the iPhone.
“Our team has worked incredibly hard to make Apple Pay private and secure, with the simplicity of a single touch of your finger,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, in a news release published on Apple’s website
Oct. 16.
Some students at CBU said they are hesitant to use Apple Pay because they are fearful of the increased risk of their phones being stolen.
“IPhones are already stolen because they’re nice phones, but add peoples’ credit cards to them and iPhones will get stolen even more,” said Cherish Jesse, freshman theater major.
Marcos Salido-Lopez, freshman civil engineering major, said he would consider using Apple Pay but wishes more businesses accepted the payment method.
“It’s not worth it if (Apple Pay) can’t be used everywhere,” Salido-Lopez said.
