Apple has provided the following statement to Business Insider when asked about CVS and Rite Aid both blocking Apple Pay at their checkout terminals:
The feedback we are getting from customers and retailers about Apple Pay is overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic. We are working to get as many merchants as possible to support this convenient, secure and private payment option for consumers. Many retailers have already seen the benefits and are delighting their customers at over 220,000 locations.
Earlier today CVS confirmed in a statement to CNBC that it will not be accepting Apple Pay after users previously reported being able to the chain’s NFC terminals:
“At this time, CVS/pharmacy cannot accept Apple Pay or other mobile payments that use NFC technology. We are in the process of evaluating mobile payment options for our customers.”
CVS’s decision to not accept Apple Pay has been echoed by competing pharmacy chain Rite Aid in favor of a system called CurrentC. Rather than support both Apple Pay, CurrentC, and any other mobile payment system like Google Wallet, both chains have opted to actively disable NFC functionality at their sales terminals disabling Apple Pay support at checkout. CurrentC is an effort from the Merchant Customer eXchange (MCX) consortium which includes a number of other retailers like Best Buy and Walmart as well.
Both CVS and Rite Aid were able to accept Apple Pay at NFC terminals during the first few days of Apple Pay’s roll out, but both have since manually disabled support for all NFC-based payments. Competing pharmacy chain Walgreens, however, is a launch partner for Apple Pay and has encouraged its shoppers to use the secure mobile payment system.
Other Apple Pay partners have been eager to promote their participation as well. MasterCard put Apple Pay in front of MLB World Series viewers as it advertised support at World Series stadiums, and Wells Fargo has begun offering its customers $20 credits for using Apple Pay.
While Apple’s statement above focused on the number of retailers supporting in Apple Pay and the company’s effort to sign more retailers on board with the mobile payment system, the company is encouraging Apple Pay users to report issues with using the service at retailers with NFC sales terminals at checkout.
Apple has linked to its existing support feedback form for Apple Pay from the Apple Pay explainer site encouraging users to report businesses that display the universal NFC logo but do not support Apple Pay.
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CVS and the other CurrentC merchants are clueless. Not to mention requiring us to opt our health data in just to make a purchase that helps merchants out but provides no benefits to consumers is mind-blowing. These guys are real geniuses.
This just in: Apple does not support the use of the Oxford comma.
That was literally my biggest takeaway from that statement as well. =)
What am I missing? I don’t see any place in their response where a serial comma would even work.
“convenient, secure and private payment option”
Damn, didn’t even notice that!
Carry on.
… which is consistent with Tim Cook but kudos for noticing.
“It’s great news for Apple, IBM and for enterprise customers worldwide and I’m really excited to see it take off.”
http://9to5mac.com/2014/07/15/tim-cook-to-employees-on-ibm-partnership-im-really-excited-to-see-it-take-off-memo/
No reason to. The statement is unambiguous without it.
Ya, that’s a non-statement. Would’ve loved to hear something more direct, like “it’s a mistake these retailers are making and the customers know it” or “the competition has a less effective solution that is clearly clunky, less private, less safe, and doesn’t benefit the customer, but actually the merchant, if ponying up half a million dollars and signing a three-year exclusive contract is considered a benefit to them.”
Well, I gotta tell ya, this is the straw that broken the camels back. 1. CVS is over priced. 2. As a former smoker (10 months smoke free now – thank you) – CVS deciding not to sell cigarettes anymore kind of bothers me as a business decision. Because you can buy smokes almost anywhere, why piss off ALL smokers and lose their business (smokers band together). But NOW they’ve gone and done it. Turning off NFC is a BAD move. I’ll pass 4 CVS’s looking for a Walgreens so I can use Apple Pay if I have to. I currently get my prescriptions filled at CVS – done with that. CVS – you can officially kick rocks!
How about, “The feedback we are getting from customers and retailers about Apple Pay is overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic, while the feedback from CurrentC in the app store has overwhelmingly set a new record for negative feedback”.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/currentc/id912922036
Off topic, but I have to say the icon/logo showing a typical credit card image to represent Apple Pay doesnt give off the impression that you can use your phone to complete a transaction.
Today we transferred our scripts to Walgreens, not out of spite or to teach anyone a lesson. It was simply to better protect ourselves. If enough people feel as we do you have to expect we’ll soon see “Now Accepting ApplePay” to begin popping up in advertisements. Companies are all about increasing profits by reducing costs until the revenue stream is interrupted or slowed :-)
“Ya, that’s a non-statement. Would’ve loved to hear something more direct, like “it’s a mistake these retailers are making and the customers know it”
Naaah, you can’t shame companies like that. This is right approach. Discuss how beneficial it is to use, and encourage others to get on board, without humiliation or insults. It’s the best business.
This guy gets it…
People don’t understand business, they think with their emotions which is basically “not thinking”
Agreed, Apple needs to get the members of MCX to understand the benefits and gradually ease them into this, and not antagonize them. They took the high road, and though it will be long, it’s the right one to take.
I find this typical to Apple – they don’t usually bash a competitor unless that competitor steals the Apple IP – even then, Apple is usually understated – now that SJ is not the spokesman.
I do not have A IPhone. but after being in whole foods on Sunday. whish I had on. One of their Registers was not working. but it was working for Apple pay. I was 3rd in line in one that was working, an employee stated that she could check out any one with apple pay 7 people moved to her line and was out of the store before me. should of bought an IPhone!!!
FYI I have a Note 4
Here is my response from Rite Aid on Apple Pay:
Hello Chris,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us! I apologize for the delay in response and for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Given that we are still in the process of evaluating our mobile payment options, Rite Aid does not currently accept ApplePay. We are continually evaluating various forms of mobile payment technologies, and are committed to offering convenient, reliable and secure payment methods that meet the needs of our customers. We apologize again for any inconvenience this may have caused you, and we hope to have this feature available in the future. Have a nice day, and thank you for choosing Rite Aid!
Zabrina H.
Rite Aid Customer Care
I also support Apple Pay and myself and family will boycott any merchant that deliberately blocks Apple Pay. It should be our choice, not theirs. I have no problem switching all my business from CVS which I have been using for years, to Walgreens.
Have you seen the clientele at Walmart? Sure, world’s biggest retailer….but chances are the bulk of their customers are not carrying an iPhone 6/6+. How many iPhones do you see on the People of Walmart site?
Apple should just buy this stupid company and shut it down.
CVS and Riteaid, by not supporting payments from such a major brand is illogical. I myself will walk into a Walgreens as opposed to CVS, for support of multiple payment methods. Only time will tell, but this appears to be a mistake in my opinion. Also I will not adopt another digital wallet when I have one built into my phone already and have no problem reaching for my plastic.
This is getting out of hand, every time something negative related to Apple happens it’s HUGE NEWS, something gate every week, the way most sites choose to write this articles make it seem as though Apple Pay is in trouble, this is the kind of technology that will take off slowly, Google Wallet never did, well most things Google does don’t take off at all because they try to do too much and don’t put a lot time into anything but at the end of the day, it’s ok for this to happen, it’s ok for a company that Apple does business with to go bankrupt and for a few phones to bend. Plus CurrentC is a JOKE!
Alienating your customers by turning off a service that you had been supporting is BAD business. Secondly, the CurrentC system is NOT faster than simply using a credit card. That is the entire point of NFC terminals: that they’re fast and secure. The CurrentC system also requires you to give the stores access to your checking account. Based on the security failures that companies have had with credit cards, I will NEVER allow a retail store to have direct access to my bank account. So, CurrentC is a no-go before it’s even started. That fact that these greedy idiots can’t see that is reason enough to shop somewhere else. Buh bye, Target and CVS. Hello, Amazon and Walgreens.