goslife
Seems like what @matchboxbananasynergy says is true.

In my case I THINK it stopped working after one of the March GOS upgrades, but because of what matchboxbananasynergy wrote above I'm almost sure it was either a coincidence or maybe I just noticed that after upgrade (and it maybe it did not actually work before that, which I didn't check before).

So yeah, I'm back to taking again my wallet always with me, it's also sad that Curve (which could fill that gap perfectly and they definitely have working technology for that already) focused on Huawei alternative only.

      8 days later

      Anyone try this app?

      https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cardsapp.android

      I've gotten it installed and everything this far, failed on the first try and haven't had a chance to troubleshoot it but it may be promising. No idea on its security so I never gave it networking personally, as of now who knows maybe it's no good but just maybe... Any chance GrapheneOS could have a native tap and pay app eventually?

      11 days later

      chaps, don't worry I still get cash out to pay.
      I am actually surprised that people who choose to use GrapheneOS desperately search for contactless payment option....

      2 months later

      Is there a way to program another device to serve as the wallet that could be inconspicuous? An NFC chip sticker or something?

      4 months later

      ekasprzak Hey! Do you still have that old curve apk from Huawei App Gallery? Can you send it to me?

          mgeo Hi, not sure what kind of version you're talking about, my whole story was: paying via curve doesn't work if you don't have a Huawei phone (confirmed by Curve support).

            ekasprzak this message! i actually have a phone, but i'm testing the apk on huawei watch 4 and the last version, runs but cannot activate curve pay on the watch, it just stuck in the loading screen of the activation. I don't know whether you have somewhere that apk file you mentioned you install back in March

              intelligence up until the May 2023 update of my banking app i could use the native NFC payment of the app itself (from within the app or by single clicking the widget icon on your home screen) flawlessly and worked seemlesly since it was first introduced 6-7 years ago. Since the May update I lost NFC capability of the app again within the app and there was no widget at all. I went on and read the apps update log and surely enough the change to google pay was introduced at that update that made the previous fully working capability of the app itself stopped working - inexisting. After weeks of emailing back and forth with the technical team of the bank their answer was: "we did cause of convenience and better support, plus we don't have to maintain another service by ourselves. We outsourced that to google!" Now at that point was furious and willing to change banks just to a bank that is not so gullible. But immediately found out that most all of the do the same or are planning to do so in the near future. So instead what I did was deleted the app, reinstalled the pro May update version and blacklisted any future updates to the app. I have it working again with no issues till now (almost 6mo). I just took all the necessary safety precautions (with 2sv and everything) so I can keep using that service.

                6 months later

                matchboxbananasynergy Definitely not Barclays as the stopped their native NFC support in the app and are now referring to Google pay. Clowns...

                  3 months later

                  Is there still nothing anyone uses for NFC payments?

                  I just moved to a bank that doesn't have it's own NFC payment app / system in their banking app.

                  Now I'm not looking to get a smart watch just for something like the Garmin payment app. So is there nothing at all where you can simply add your own card for NFC payments? Or any new way to get around Google Wallet's system check?

                    RedPanda I'm not sure (because I am not using NFC ) but if you have google services somehow, maybe you can enable nfc on curve. someone said above that if you change region to Iceland, Curve lets you activate nfc. https://appgallery.cloud.huawei.com/appdl/C102372409
                    There is also another app called "Lydia" (now Sumeria.eu). It has Nfc Function (at least for Huawei phones) but supports a limited number of countries.

                    🇫🇷 Metropolitan France and DROM-COM (numbers starting with +33 +262, +596, +590 and +594)
                    🇲🇨 Monaco (+377)
                    🇧🇪 Belgium (+32)
                    🇩🇪 Germany (+49)
                    🇪🇸 Spain (+34)
                    🇮🇪 Ireland (+353)
                    🇬🇧 England (+44)
                    🇵🇹 Portugal (+351)
                    🇮🇹 Italy (+39) 🆕
                    🇱🇺 Luxembourg (+352)

                    https://appgallery.cloud.huawei.com/appdl/C102330391

                    You might be able to use that. If there isn't any option to activate payment, maybe it needs google services. someone has said to me that it works as NFC payment app on GMS devices too.

                    Those are the two that have mobile payment on their own (at least for Huawei phones)

                    You could try them with and without google services (maybe with microg) and keep us posted!

                      RedPanda So is there nothing at all where you can simply add your own card for NFC payments?

                      It's not really a technical problem, more of a cost/risk/market problem. Google, like Apple, spent big bucks setting up a network and getting merchants to accept it. They want to limit their risk of that system being hijacked, so they feel it best to trust their OS and the systems of their contractual OEM partners.

                      Others, such as Samsung and Huawei, have similar networks. Some banks may choose to build their own apps rather than signing up with one or more large networks, but then they assume the risks.

                      Just because it's not technically hard doesn't mean it isn't real-world hard.

                          de0u i agree, but that also banks pay fees to google to support google pay on their cards, isn't it? would be better if they had their own apps (some banks did, then shut them down because they got google pay support)

                          • de0u replied to this.

                              mgeo Each bank decides how to balance costs, risks, and benefits, likewise Google. We might prefer if Google trusted their wallet app on GrapheneOS, but it may well never happen. We might prefer if our favorite banks did their own NFC payment support, but that is their choice.

                              With hardware attestation, there isn't a way for GrapheneOS to tweak something and override Google's choices or banks' choices (I think this is what the original poster was asking about).

                                Tried Curve. They require you to buy their own card and they seem to have removed their own NFC, now also relying on Google Pay, making it unusable on GrapheneOS.

                                Lydia / Sumeria was a bit too shady for me. They were seriously asking for my tax ID.

                                I guess I will have to drop NFC payments and pay with my card directly or with cash.

                                  Something I don't see mentioned much, as a sort of alternative to paying by phone, is contactless payment wearables. I think the support varies depending on what country you're in. I believe there are a few compatible with the curve card and a couple of other cards in UK at least. Pretty sure it's a fairly popular method of payment in parts of Europe. I think it is only supported by MasterCard cards and not VISA.

                                  There are bracelets, rings, watchstraps, watches (not smart watches, actual watches) and key fobs as well. I'm sure there are others.

                                  It seems very dependable on what country you're in as to whether it is a thing and to what companies do it, so if it sounds interesting its worth a quick search on the web

                                  EDIT: There are also phone cases like this one, that let you keep a couple of cards in and just slide the back open slightly to tap to pay: https://www.amazon.com/Spigen-Slim-Armor-Designed-MP671/dp/B0BZ5PBKXP/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3SBWYXWXFPSWK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.nLaU3CkPKer1vzkZxvhtMEq0vjhqw0_0Jq1_wRZe9IncogAhjHuC7pTPd0WEnrpdrzhFeYwpv7wNKyZoNgfZ-hzPKs6xdn2GQkX0nyDmK6ypTUbhGWfOa8wk6pxrfukALs2CJMEY95mZDVwv0bNdMMnvk6X-CQTDEKu6vFGtJWYbY94cuPYE8EoApzeMd6ajw7I9jLN4FaOC5L_A6XLOFw.4qYXoLd6oopY_o2OtY7YFeYfSOsl_C4CY7SA_F8KaIA&dib_tag=se&keywords=Spigen+Slim+Armor+CS+Case+Compatible+with+Google+Pixel+8+Pro&qid=1720008337&sprefix=spigen+slim+armor+cs+case+compatible+with+google+pixel+8+pro%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1

                                    roamer4223 That's true. There are NFC rings and watchstraps, for me it's only curve that is supported

                                      RedPanda Yes, I think you have to order their own curve card in order to use NFC or any of their features. But still might not work on GrapheneOS. I'm not sure. There is this comment here and a full thread: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/443-gpay-alternatives-for-grapheneos
                                      This comment here is what I am not sure: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/u/LazyM49

                                      They use different phone than Huawei and somehow enabled NFC by changing region in Google playstore(?)

                                      I don't think Lydia is shady. It's a digital licensed bank in France. Based on trustpilot, I'd say that they are okay. I sent them email before and they always reply and I also checked them with central bank in my country and they are approved by them as digital bank.

                                      Don't revolut ask for Tax ID too? here it does

                                        As far as I know KYC is mandatory for financial services in the EU; so asking for a tax ID is mandatory for Lydia/Sumeria, Revolut, as well as any other EU bank or financial app. They should also verify your ID via a videocall, or at least ask for a bank transfer from another of your accounts to confirm your identity (so switching the burden of KYC compliance to the other bank).