Recently, it has become fashionable among electronics manufacturers to launch their own contactless services. As a result, in addition to the big three Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, many local services appeared on the market like Xiaomi Pay, Swatch Pay, Huawei Pay and Fitbit Pay. But especially among them, the company's payment service Huawei stands out, which, although launched in Russia, is still inaccessible to most users. Therefore, I suggest you figure out what's what and why you can't just take and start using Huawei Pay along with the rest.
Huawei Pay works in Russia, but not quite the way we would like
How Huawei Pay works
I think we should start with the description Huawei Pay. Like Apple Pay or Samsung Pay, the Chinese company's branded service works via NFC and is technically the same. The service encrypts the data of the bank card, replacing it with the number of the virtual card that it creates at the time of binding. In this way, it is possible to protect the original card, the number of which is not recognized by either the seller or Huawei, or the acquiring bank, which ensures the operation of the payment terminal in the store and processes the transaction.
How Huawei Pay differs from Google Pay
Huawei Pay allows you to pay in the same way as Google Pay, but there is one difference. About him – below
From a security point of view Huawei Pay turns out to be even more preferable and reliable option than Google Pay. After all, if the brainchild of the search giant allows you to make three purchases up to 1000 rubles without any confirmation, then the service Huawei requires verification of each transaction, regardless of the amount. To do this, you must either enter the smartphone unlock password or scan your fingerprint. In addition, Huawei Pay uses SE hardware encryption technology, while Google Pay uses software encryption to emulate HCE cards.
Which smartphones support Huawei Pay
But with the support of Huawei Pay, things are still not the best. Despite the fact that the service has been operating in Russia since the end of 2018, owners of a strictly limited list of smartphones can use it.
Huawei Pay does not support many devices
- Huawei P30 / P30 Pro
- Huawei Mate 20 / Mate 20 Pro / Mate 20 RS Porsche Design
- Huawei P20 / P20 Pro
- Huawei Mate 10 / Mate 10 Pro / Mate 10 Porsche Design
- Huawei P10 / P10 Plus
- Huawei Mate 9 / Mate 9 Pro / Mate 9 Porsche Design
- Honor 10
- Honor View 10
- Honor 9
- Honor 9 Pro
Why Huawei Pay doesn't work
As you can see, this list lacks new models of smartphones, and branded smart watches Huawei are missing in principle. Why is not clear, and the Chinese themselves do not explain. But they clarify that Huawei Pay will work only on devices that have been officially imported into the country. That is, if you bought a device on AliExpress intended for the Chinese market, you will not be able to pay with it in Russia due to differences in the firmware, which simply will not allow you to activate the contactless module and bind cards of compatible banks. However, this is not the only problem.
Which banks support Huawei Pay
Pay Huawei Pay where you see these icons
At the moment in Russia Huawei Pay is supported by only two banks: Rosselkhozbank and Gazprombank. Why are there so few of them, ask? But because only they (perhaps there are others, but nothing is reported about them) issue UnionPay cards. That is, 'plastic' from MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Maestro and MIR is not supported.
The thing is that UnionPay is a Chinese payment system, and Huawei is under sanctions and cannot cooperate with American and European systems. As for the MIR system, the situation here is likely to change soon and Huawei Pay will officially work with it. But so far there has been no progress in this direction.
It is also very important to keep in mind that not all terminals work with UnionPay. Therefore, if you have a card of this payment system, look for UnionPay or Huawei Pay icons at the checkout in the store where you want to pay. But if I have seen UnionPay here and there, then Huawei Pay I have never met at all. However, perhaps I just looked inattentively.
Should I use Huawei Pay
Google Pay does not allow contactless payments without an Internet connection several times in a row
Personally, I don't see any point in this, even if you have a compatible bank card issued under the umbrella of UnionPay. After all, not only will you be severely limited in the range of stores that accept appropriate payment, but you will also need to keep an additional payment application on your smartphone. And I, as a supporter of a rational approach in everything, think that this is too much. After all, why duplicate essentially the same function – contactless payment – when you don't have to.
Is it possible to pay Google Pay without internet
Oddly enough, the only feature Huawei Pay, thanks to which it beats Google Pay, is the ability to pay for purchases without an Internet connection. Few people know that Google Pay stores several tokens in reserve, which allow it to make multiple transactions without being connected to the Internet. However, when the tokens run out, he needs to reconnect to the internet to get new ones. Huawei Pay does not have this problem – it is affected by the use of hardware encryption technology, thanks to which tokens are generated completely autonomously. But is it worth it?