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July 22, 2024 6:05 PM

how prevalent is apple pay in paris and london?

my mother and i are going to paris and london in early december, and she is paranoid about having cash on her at all times. i am... less paranoid, and am trying to get her to bring less cash. we both have apple pay, and i can get us navigo cards at CDG/oyster cards in london if needed. this is fine, right?

posted by koroshiya to Travel & Transportation (22 answers total)

In London, doing anything other than tap-to-pay will annoy everyone. Apple Pay is supported literally everywhere.
posted by bowbeacon at 6:31 PM on July 22 [5 favorites]

Just got back from London—used it literally everywhere. Never used any cash; never used a physical credit card.
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:34 PM on July 22 [3 favorites]

I used Oyster no problem with a physical tap-to-pay credit card (corporate card, which I don't put on my phone). No issues at all. Taxis were fine as well.

Honestly the last time I had trouble paying in London was about 2 years ago, when I was trying to get rid of cash that I had leftover from a previous trip. That series of notes had apparently been retired, so I used a credit card. (I had to go to bank of England to swap it for new cash).
posted by true at 6:59 PM on July 22 [1 favorite]

Just got back from Paris. I used cash twice. Once was a street artist and once was a vendor who only did tap-to-pay if you bought over 5 Euro. My sister did London earlier this year. Never used cash.

I'd probably bring a physical card in case your phone runs out of juice (bring a power bank) and having a couple of small coins around never hurts, but cash might as well not exist.

I'm in the Google universe, btw, but Apple Pay is the same.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 8:54 PM on July 22 [2 favorites]

FWIW I recently completed a Europe trip and used cash in only three settings: one, buying food and drinks from tents at a historical fair; two, buying meals in hiking huts in the Tirolean Alps; and three, buying some produce from a street vendor in Vienna. Everything else was Apple Pay and it worked great.
posted by graphweaver at 10:28 PM on July 22

I bop between France & London fortnightly, no problem at all to use Apple pay either location. Honestly I don't use cash in my everyday life, even fencing necklines accept tap to pay.

Nb some euros are useful if you are purchasing very small items.
posted by socky_puppy at 10:30 PM on July 22

Also, there is no need to get an Oyster, just use Apple pay, it's the exact same price using tap to pay, even weekly cards are calculated if you use the same device. This applies to both tube and buses.
posted by socky_puppy at 10:33 PM on July 22 [1 favorite]

Assume 98% of things will be contactless payments. Plenty of card only establishments. My aunt lives in England, she is 75. She prefers chip+pin to contactless card payments but even she was getting her phone out in shops when there was no line to ‘practice’ using ApplePay when I visited in June.
posted by koahiatamadl at 11:06 PM on July 22

I live in London and I basically never carry cash (though of course I do have the security of knowing I can withdraw cash from a cash machine if I ever need to).

You will encounter far more businesses that do not take cash than businesses that do not take cards. I’m not aware of anywhere that takes cards but does not take contactless cards. Anywhere you can use a contactless card you can use Apple Pay. Even buskers take Apple Pay. It is ubiquitous.

It’s illegal for businesses to charge you more for using a card or Apple Pay rather than paying in cash. You may encounter some businesses that have a minimum spend to use a card (which includes Apple Pay), usually £5 or £10. But these are extremely rare.

You probably do not need to buy an Oyster card, which cost £7 on top of any travel charges. Everywhere you can use an Oyster card you can use most contactless cards or Apple Pay. You’ll get charged once per day for all your journeys. Always use Apple Pay with the same card each time to benefit from price capping, which keeps costs at least as cheap as a daily/weekly Oyster Travelcard. You can read more than you ever wanted to know about contactless on Transport for London at https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/how-to-pay-and-where-to-buy-tickets-and-oyster/pay-as-you-go/contactless-and-mobile-pay-as-you-go.

Put a £20 note in your wallet at the beginning of your trip. It’ll probably still be there at the end.
posted by kyten at 11:51 PM on July 22 [4 favorites]

If by Apple Pay, you mean a virtual contactless debit or credit card, then in London as explained you can use it pretty much everywhere and almost everyone uses contactless exclusively. If by Apple Pay you mean Apple Cash, then that doesn't work here, as per this question and answer.

Answers on reddit suggest that the situation in Paris is similar to London, and that contactless is more prevalent in Paris than it is in the US.

You can also use a contactless debit or credit card, there are limits on the maximum amount of a transaction (£100 / €50). If you go above that with a card (but not a phone) you will need to use chip & pin.
posted by plonkee at 12:44 AM on July 23

I've not used a taxi in London for a number of years, but my local taxi ranks have holdouts who only use cash, so I suggest asking "you take card, yeah?" before getting in.
posted by k3ninho at 12:54 AM on July 23

From the Apple Pay vs Apple Cash question: "My Capital One credit card wouldn't work because Capital one doesn't allow purchases through Apple Pay out of the country, just within the US". So double check that your specific setup will work.

I'm a big fan of having at least some backup cash on you.
posted by trig at 1:42 AM on July 23

I live in the UK. I carry around £20 cash on me as a just-in-case, and refill as needed when I do. The last time I used it was a year ago, at the MCM Comic-Con in London, where a very small vendor did not have the ability to take card. The last time before then was to pay for a taxi, three years ago, and they did take card (I always ask when I get in), but their tap-to-pay thingy was on the fritz, as was discovered when I went to pay.

Otherwise, it's tap-to-pay absolutely everywhere, public transport included (yes, buses too), either with Apple Pay or with a physical card. I was asked to enter my pin the very first time I tapped a brand new card on a reader to pay, but then was fine everywhere. Provided your bank / credit card provider does not block out-of-country purchases, you will be just fine.

Well. Unless another Crowdstrike type thing happens. So maybe a little bit of cash, just in case, but in general you will be fine.
posted by sailoreagle at 5:39 AM on July 23

If you want to use your phone to pay for the tube, make sure you turn on the "Express Transit Card" setting, which makes it so that you don't have to authenticate with FaceID/TouchID. Just hold your phone up to the reader.
posted by rhymedirective at 6:41 AM on July 23 [1 favorite]

I was just speaking to an Italian friend whose parents came to London with hundreds of pounds in cash and left having barely spent any. Contactless payments, including Google and Apple Pay are definitely the norm now to the point that some people like slightly put out if you try and pay in cash.
posted by knapah at 6:49 AM on July 23

You can use Apple Pay on the Paris metro but you need to add a Navigo card to your wallet and buy individual/weekly/monthly tickets.

Some small non chain convenience stores will have a 5€ or 10€ card minimum, as will tabacs if anyone smokes.

If a bar/cafe has a card minimum it usually says on their menu at the bottom.
posted by ellieBOA at 7:07 AM on July 23

Londoner here. I use cash for haircuts, a service you're unlikely to need while on hols. I sometimes use cash at a farmer's market or other outdoor stall thing, but this is becoming increasingly rare. Even buskers all have tap payments now.

I've not used a taxi in London for a number of years, but my local taxi ranks have holdouts who only use cash, so I suggest asking "you take card, yeah?" before getting in.

Obvs Uber et al (FREENOW seems to be the app of choice these days) don't need cash, and personally I never ask black cab drivers (the only ones you're allowed to hail in the street) if they take card any more, I just jump in. But if you're using a "minicab"—which is a normal car, not mini at all sadly, and accessible like a cab through street-level offices—I would have cash to hand. That said, why bother with them?* I recommend just using the apps, if you need a cab at all.

*The only exception is if you want a cab to the airport: minicab companies often have fixed rates that are decent, £40-50 depending on your location/which airport. But airports all have great public transport options so cabs are only a saver in certain situations (e.g. mobility issues, time, the feeling of luxury).
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 7:11 AM on July 23

Also for 5€ or 10€ in a cafe, you’re very likely to meet that with 2 drinks.

The G7 company that are the black cab equivalent taxis in Paris take cards.
posted by ellieBOA at 7:18 AM on July 23

Provided your bank / credit card provider does not block out-of-country purchases, you will be just fine.

Yes, in case you've never done this, it's a good idea to let your credit card issuers know you plan to be using the card out of the country. Otherwise they might block them as an anti-fraud measure. With most cards you can do this through their web or in-app interfaces.
posted by trig at 7:36 AM on July 23 [1 favorite]

We went to the UK for three weeks in September and I still have $40 of the emergency cash we took out in my wallet. Didn’t even bother to change it.
posted by telophase at 7:48 AM on July 23

I've not used a taxi in London for a number of years, but my local taxi ranks have holdouts who only use cash

Taxis in London are required to take card payments.
posted by kyten at 10:17 AM on July 23

Response by poster: thank you everyone! i appreciate the feedback and will convince my mom not to bring so much cash.
posted by koroshiya at 10:23 AM on July 23