HT Wired Wisdom: Credit cards, changes at Microsoft and time to update your iPhone

This week, I’m genuinely inclined to have a conversation about what is a rather heady intersection of technology. Money and technology. Digital payments, something we’re all familiar with. They’ve grown exponentially. And I put that mildly. This August, UPI (or unified payments interface) transactions crossed the 10 billion mark. In just one month. I know you’ve been using it. Google Pay, perhaps? Maybe Paytm? Drawing some cashbacks from Amazon Pay?

I experimented with an app over the past few weeks, and it’s been successful enough to warrant a chat. Samsung Galaxy phone users would perhaps be familiar with – Samsung Wallet. If you aren’t, the Galaxy Store (that’s Samsung’s app store; the Google Play Store version isn’t India spec) would be a good place to download this. This app has glided well under the radar. Though why that is so, perplexes me.

It does more than just UPI. Among Android phones, and indeed the Apple iPhone, it is a one-of-a-kind app. Samsung’s Wallet is also a digital locker for documents; incredibly convenient. What caught my attention – virtual credit cards of your actual credit cards. It was set up on Samsung Galaxy smartphone and (optionally; in my case), with a Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic smartwatch which happened to be around for review at the time. Samsung Wallet can seamlessly hold digital versions of Mastercard and Visa credit cards (most banks and cards are supported).

Pity that American Express’ closed ecosystem means they stay outside the realm of digital payment apps, for now. That aside, Samsung Wallet is as good as carrying a credit card, even if you aren’t physically carrying it. I wasn’t. Here’s how it panned out during shopping, dining out and travel.

• It worked seamlessly, at stores, restaurants and fuel stations (much to the amazement of the staff there, in particular). You simply select from a saved card in Wallet and once the PoS is ready to receive payment, tap that phone or watch (just as you would, with a card).

• Tap to pay with a phone or a smartwatch, isn’t a sight you see every day. It is convenient. A tad addictive too, more so for an iPhone user who doesn’t get the same privilege of Apple Pay, in India. I’d urge those with a Samsung Galaxy phone, to give this a try.

• For transactions up to Rs 5,000 (much like if you were to tap an actual credit card on a payment terminal), no pin is needed. For higher value transactions, authenticate with a pin.

India’s card tokenisation guidelines, which came into effect around this time last year, play their part in this simplification.

There are enough digital payment apps around, without doubt. But look closely, and most lean towards UPI. That said, Google Pay does let you add credit cards as well for tap to pay, but only on Android phones. A point I’ll touch upon for a moment – we believe India leads the way with digital payments, and that’s true for the most part. Yet most developed countries haven’t exactly been left behind. The path they chose a long time ago (and it’s worked well for them) has been with credit or charge cards.

• In the US, there are 166 million credit or charge cards at the end of 2022 (which translates to coverage of around 84% adults, according to TransUnion).

• India’s credit card penetration is around just 77 million, in comparison. The route of choice involves UPI instead, which links directly to bank accounts. A broader approach may be needed now, since foundations are in place.

• GlobalData research pegs US at 2.4 cards per adult individual at the end of 2022. Canada (2.1), UK (0.9), Spain (0.9) and France (0.4) follow.

Some of you may remember I’d spoken about McLear’s payment ring over the summer, after a tryst with it at this year’s London Tech Week. A really cool concept that’s evolved into an actual, utilitarian and cool product.

To be honest, I’m more inclined towards credit cards, and hence this extensive experimentation. All transactions went though, with a simple tap of the phone or the watch on any PoS machine, points to reliability.

There are many stakeholders in India’s relentless push towards digital payments supremacy. Samsung’s efforts with Wallet, must be commended. Particularly when Apple hasn’t enabled Apple Pay in India. Google Pay has restricted some functionality to Android phones only. And most Android phone makers simply haven’t bothered (RBI’s strict data handling guidelines may have something to do with it).

That’s indicative of a hands-off approach generally prevalent in the system. The government’s push for cards (RuPay as an alternative to Mastercard and Visa) isn’t aggressive. Banks, equally, are still risk averse. Perhaps we need a more inclusive approach with credit cards, to build the next chapter of India’s digital payments journey. Much like how France and Singapore and now adding UPI as a layer to the existing credit card intensive payment ecosystem. “Only UPI” may not be the quickest route.

LEADERSHIP

This was not expected. Just a handful of days before he was expected to take the stage for the annual Surface keynote, Microsoft executive Panos Panay announced he’s leaving. Grapevine seems to suggest his next workstation awaits at Amazon’s headquarters. Whether it is a case of the internet simply putting two and two together or not, we’ll only know in due course. There’s reason for this particular speculation though. David Limp, who is senior vice-president for devices and services at Amazon, is set to retire in the coming weeks. About a month ago, when Amazon announced this transition, they didn’t name a successor. Reserved the right to announce a name, at a later date. That date may be arriving soon enough, if Panay is indeed on his way. For Microsoft, Panay’s departure can go either way – they could choose to continue with the robust foundation he’s pieced together, or wipe the slate clean and potentially redraw the wheel. The latter may have its rewards, but risks far outweigh those. We’ll get a sense of the direction, later this week.

Panos Panay’s legacy at Microsoft: Expansive Surface line-up complements Windows

The exec who is taking over the Surface role, as well as leadership of intersecting Windows and AI initiatives, is Yusuf Mehdi. His present designation is one that clearly indicates the more wholesome, cooler if you may, path Microsoft chose to walk down a few years ago. Corporate Vice President - Modern Life, Search & Devices at Microsoft. I had the chance to speak with him exclusively early last year, by which time Windows 11 was well into the adoption cycle post release a few months prior. “We are trying to drive faster innovation with Windows. Historically, it was all one big operating system release and then that took a long time,” Mehdi told me, illustrating a new update strategy design.

Mehdi comes across as someone who looks to the future, not over his shoulder. That should hold him in good stead, driving Surface, Windows and AI initiatives.

Exclusive | Users realise all computing can’t be done on phones, says Yusuf Mehdi

More so for Surface, a computing device line-up that’s become the broadest and most successful it’s ever been. It does another very important thing. Sets the Windows experiential benchmark, encompassing hardware and software, which PC makers can then do well to follow through with. Things don’t get much quirkier than the Surface Laptop Studio (our review is here). Neither can the sense of experimentation be denied, with the Surface Pro X (read our take, here).

Let us not forget, there will be no traditional ‘easing into the role’ for Mehdi. It is likely he’ll take the stage this week to usher in the next portfolio of Surface devices, and everything else Microsoft will talk about (AI will be the buzzword, for sure). Immediately after that, there’s the public release of the Microsoft 365 CoPilot for Microsoft 365 apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. Alongside, evolving Bing’s AI prowess and Edge. And then the big one, the next Windows operating system, expected next year.

UPDATE

Apple iPhone users, it is that time of the year again. The next iOS iteration awaits a download and install routine. iOS 17 is now available for iPhones as old as the second generation iPhone SE, the iPhone XR and the iPhone Xs series. As I write this, it’s been a fairly short window of any sort of experience with iOS 17, since the update rolled out late Monday night. Observations so far, lean towards consistency with performance. Not noticing any faster battery drain either, compared with iOS 16.5 I’ve upgraded from. Both, point to a good start to iOS 17’s journey.

What’s unmistakable, are the subtle tweaks to visual elements across the board, including the incoming call screen, iMessage and an extremely customisable StandBy (for when the iPhone is on charge, and docked sideways). You can now customise the incoming screen poster for each contact. Widgets are more interactive, but we’d expect nothing less. AirDrop’s new functionality (some of that, such as transfers over the internet, arrive later this year) and NameDrop will be interesting, at least for a while.

Dig a little deeper into some of the most used apps, and you’ll realise there’s a lot of new functionality. Often driven by AI. Autocorrect for instance, underlines what’s been changed (in case you’d like to revert). Apps within iMessage have a new overlay and an AI powered transcription feature for those annoying friends who send audio notes. In case you’ve missed messages, there’ll be a helpful arrow pointing you to catch up on the chat from that point onwards. FaceTime on Apple TV. There are different profiles within Safari too.

SharePlay, for instance, will be more relevant and convenient for a wider demographic now. With proximity functionality (some of which I’ve already talked about, such as NameDrop) taking a step forward, simply bringing two iPhone close to each other can share videos, music playback and gameplay. In the car too, if CarPlay is connected, passengers can play a part in deciding the playlist, from their iPhones. It’ll be fun while it lasts, till someone plays track that’ll lead to inevitable judging of musical tastes and life’s choices.

KNOW MORE

• The metaverse may have not taken off. But for whatever it is worth, online gaming platform Roblox will be arriving on the Sony PlayStation consoles in October. Confirmation arrives from the 2023 Roblox Developers Conference. It’ll be free to download, for starters, and available for PlayStation 5 as well as those still clinging to a PlayStation 4. It’s about time too, since the platform has figured already on Windows PCs, Macs, iOS, Android and even the Xbox gaming console. Why did it take so long for Sony to get this on the PlayStation platform?

• It has been 10 years since Grand Theft Auto V released. Back then, for the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360 consoles. It was followed up with Grand Theft Auto Online, in case you’re charting a timeline. Now, Rockstar Games has announced the online game is getting some new content – a stock car, weapon finishes, and collectibles. This is one game franchise that’s defined a generation, with unmatched gameplay. Also, Grand Theft Auto VI has been in the works for a while now, but the wait isn’t about to end anytime soon. It just has to be, even better.

Written and edited by Vishal Shanker Mathur. Produced by Md Shad Hasnain.