Apple Pay and iPhone 6 Utilizes Near Field Communication (NFC)

iPhone 6 has near field communication feature

Apple CEO Tim Cook made the iPhone 6 announcement on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014

The Apple iPhone 6 uses near field communication, or NFC, allowing iPhone users to use the proprietary Apple Pay to buy things with their phone, rather than have to pull out a real wallet. The actual NFC sensor is located at the top of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. However, if you keep reading, it is suggested that the Apple Watch may also contain a near field communication sensor, which allows all versions of the iPhone 5 to be NFC capable. So don't throw out your iPhone 5 just yet. Just do the smart thing, and read a review on the iPhone 6.

Major Credit Card Companies are on Board with Apple Pay NFC

The four biggest American credit cards are all on board to work with Apple Pay for near field communication payments. These are: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express. These credit cards can be added to one's iPhone Passbook app, as easily as taking a picture of the front. After you do this, your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus is NFC ready.

Review: If the iPhone 6 Plus is Lost or Stolen...

If you lose your iPhone, there is no need for concern. By using the Find My iPhone service, you can easily deactivate your NFC payments feature. A good iPhone 6 review pointed this out.

How does Apple Pay on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus work?

When you check out with Apple Pay, your iPhone sends a one-time payment authorization number, plus a security code.

Is Apple Pay a secure form of near field communication payment?

Yes. With Apple Pay, the user must press their finger onto the iPhone 6 or Apple Watch fingerprint sensor to authorize a transaction.

Apple Users with Previous iPhone Models Concerned about Apple Pay 

Are you worried that your iPhone won't be able to do Apple Pay?

Apple says that the iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, and iPhone 5C will be able to use Apple Pay, with one caveat - you must first buy an Apple Watch. (Source: 9TO5Mac review article)

So, either way, Apple is going to get you to buy a product if you want to pay with NFC. You can buy an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, or an Apple Watch. It's your choice.

How to Remove Dish Network Auto-Pay Without Getting Charged for Free HD

Removing Dish Network auto-pay is thumbs up

There is a way to remove the Dish Network auto-pay without getting charged for Free HD service.

Do you want to know how?

I was frustrated to know that I had to have the auto-pay feature locked to yes in order to receive Free HD service from Dish Network. It seemed to me that Free HD isn't free if there are stipulations tied to it. I didn't want auto-pay locked to yes because I like to have full control of what money is coming out of my bank accounts. I would rather pay them on my time. I wanted to remove the auto-pay from my account.

Free HD should not be tied to whether or not a customer has auto-pay enabled or not. It seems like Dish Network is afraid that customers won't pay if they don't have the auto-pay feature turned on. If a customer is going to pay, you will know it. If someone is going to default on payment, there is nothing that a company can do to stop it. Auto-pay is like having a little insurance to keep customers from forgetting, but if there is no money in that account, there is a kink in the chain.

I was frustrated with the whole Free HD for life, unless of course you want to not have the auto-pay feature enabled.

When I checked my email, I discovered that my auto-pay bill had failed.

What? How Could My Dish Payment Have Failed?

I do not understand how or why my Dish payment failed. I called the Dish Network number to talk with a representative. They did not know why my Dish payment failed.

I thought that to be strange, since the card is still active. So I figured the email that I received was a phishing scam, because it asked me to go to a link and log in and update my billing information.

Implications from Dish Payment Failure

I got on my computer and went to the Dish Network site (not through the email). I logged in and saw some special messages to me from Dish Network in yellow. (See screenshot on right). It says that my auto-pay has been turned off because my auto-pay bill payment failed.

I was surprised to see this message. However, I am also somewhat relieved at the same time. I didn't want auto-pay enabled in the first place, and now I no longer have auto-pay enabled. Since Dish Network deactivates in this manner, I get to keep Free HD without incurring the HD charge of $10 a month.

If you do not want auto-pay activated, and want to keep Free HD without being charged, you would have to  have the same situation happen to you. Auto-pay must fail. Dish Network then deactivates auto-pay. Keep Free HD. It's that simple.

dish network sign

Opening Image source: Flickr Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic; by .reid.

How do I turn Automatic Payments Off on my Comcast account?

This is how you turn the auto-pay off for your Comcast account:

1. Visit the Automatic Payment section of the My Account website and sign into your Comcast account using your Xfinity ID and password.

2. Select the option, Stop Automatic Payments, which is found on the right of your stored payment information.

3. Click Turn Off

4. You will receive an email confirming that your Automatic Payments have been cancelled on your Comcast account.

It is a very straightforward process to stop automatic payments on your Comcast account.