Odd. We just got chipcards here in chicago and its consistently close to 30 seconds too, but not because of processing time—that usually takes three/four seconds, but for some reason we also have to tap through several screens on every transaction asking if you want cash back…if you approve the amount…if you want it all on this card…poorly labelled with "yes"/"no" buttons. Maddening.

Not sure about Chicago but in the Bay Area, you only get the cash back prompts when using a debit card, which also sets you up for additional fraud liability and lower rewards kickbacks. I'd suggest getting a chase sapphire or citi DoubleCash card. It'll be faster as well (no idiotic cash back prompts with every transaction).

This is inane advice. I'm aware of credit cards, thanks.

Tens of seconds is an exaggeration. In my experience it's max 10 seconds.

And that's assuming Apple Pay is recognizing your fingerprint or is coming up at all. Don't get me started if you have multiple cards linked to Apple Pay...

I'll tell you that Apple Pay is significantly better if you have the watch. Since the watch is already authenticated to your phone, there's no fingerprint mess. You just double tap the side button and hold the watch over the payment terminal, it taps you, and you're done. It's extremely convenient.

For extra oddness, Apple Pay is extremely fast everywhere I've used it except my grocery store. There it takes about 30 seconds. I have no idea why. The device tells me I'm done, but for whatever reason the software on the point-of-sale system doesn't decide that the transaction has been paid for for a surprisingly long amount of time.

I've timed it at the WF next door and it is ~13s. Not "tens", but significantly more than your "max" of 10.

In my experiences it's between 10 and 20 seconds. The places that haven't yet updated their terminals and still swipe cards are much faster.