cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15358017

Google Pay alternative?

Hey there, I’m looking for an alternative to Google pay that’ll allow me to use NFC payments etc. Thoughts?

I don’t have a Google account, nor am I interested in opening one.

  • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
    15·
    6 months ago

    There are alternatives, but if your concern is privacy, you won’t like them either. Apple. Samsung, Venmo, PayPal, etc. You will have to trust some third party who probably doesn’t deserve it.

    Crypto was supposed to be the open-source payment method that was totally trustless, but then the tech bros decided they liked Lambos more, and now it is a store of value that people are encouraged to hoard, and not spend. (The worst thing that ever happened to crypto was for the price to go up.)

    I think the most private NFC payment method right now is an NFC-enabled physical credit card. It keeps more of your financial life away from the other spies in your pocket. That doesn’t keep your credit card provider from selling your info, but they would do that regardless of whether the card is in your phone or not.

    • RubberElectrons@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3·
      6 months ago

      I think key to my privacy model is that I run microG, so most info isn’t going to Google anyway. Firefox+add-ons takes care of enough of the remaining trackers etc so that I feel comfortable.

      This particular search is my attempt to regain a bit of the convenience I’ve lost in the process of gaining a lot of privacy; I’m ok with doing things the ‘slow’ way, but curious to see if there’s a way to get some modern nicities without losing much (ideally any) privacy.

      Thanks for your response, I’ve gotten great feedback from everyone so far, unfortunately looks like the anti-pattern is particularly & purposefully strong here in the payment and NFC interaction realm.