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CVS and Rite Aid Apple Pay blockade official as iOS and Android users unite in rare showing to fight NFC ban

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The NYT reports that Rite Aid has joined CVS in disabling Apple Pay as a payment method in its stores. Like CVS, Rite Aid is a member of the Merchant Customer eXchange (MCX) consortium promoting a rival mobile payment service, CurrentC.

Consumers are responding by threatening to boycott stores which disable Apple Pay, with more than 2,000 comments across several Reddit threads on the topic. Android users are joining in, as disabling NFC also blocks alternative mobile payment services offered by higher-end Android handsets … 

As with CVS, Apple Pay initially worked in Rite Aid stores, indicating that the company has made a deliberate decision to switch off support.

While Apple has declined to comment, MasterCard said that it was the wrong decision.

“We think consumers should have the ability to pay any way they want,” said Ed McLaughlin, chief emerging payments officer at MasterCard.

“Rite Aid and CVS have been accepting contactless payments for quite a long time,” Mr. McLaughlin added. “We look forward to them turning the functionality back on in their stores.”

MCX members like the CurrentC system as it links direct to debit accounts, bypassing card companies and the transaction fees they levy. It also allows them to issue coupons and track purchasing behaviour.

For consumers, however, CurrentC is ridiculously clunky. It relies on either exchanging QR codes – the payment terminal displaying one which is scanned by the phone, and the phone generating a second one that is scanned by the terminal – or manually entering 4-digit codes. It is also far less secure, without the protection Apple Pay offers with single-use codes and Touch ID. Check out TechCrunch‘s detailed piece to see just how bad it is.

Bloomberg notes that this is exactly why Apple believes mobile payment needed a fresh approach.

Cook said mobile payments had failed so far because they were built to serve the business models of their creators, rather than to provide a useful experience for customers.

The MCX consortium includes some big-name retailers – among them Walmart, 7-Eleven, Sears, Wendys, Kmart, Banana Republic, Dunkin’ Donuts and most gas companies – but MasterCard is confident that Apple Pay will prevail.

“Apple Pay is the most convenient, most secure, and what’s best for consumers,” Mr. McLaughlin of MasterCard said. “That’s what will win out in the end.”

Will you be joining the boycott? Let us know in comments …

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Comments

  1. 89p13 - 9 years ago

    First to predict (in this thread anyway) that CurrentC. will PHAIL!

    Placing my banking – and medical – information with merchants is absolute insanity. Just so they can save credit card fees and make more profit? I’ll pay cash or shop elsewhere first!

    • irelandjnr - 9 years ago

      You are far from the first to predict that, but yes. Let’s boycott hard and strong and vote with our dollars and these companies will listen.

    • Uh, paying cash will also save them the transaction fees. which is exactly what they want. Better to keep using credit cards.

      • drhalftone - 9 years ago

        I think part of this system is also for people with little or no credit, which is a big demographic for Walmart. Of course, how do these people get a smart phone?

      • Do business users not pay for there banking facilities, as anywhere else, they do, they pay to deposit, write checks, pay debits get coinage etc, so yes they are still paying… But the worrying point is the information you give to the retailer, where as ApplePay you give them nothing… Simple really, if everyone that does not want to pay there, simply do your shopping as usual, and then when you get to the till, you are offering a legal method of payment, if they don’t want it, simply leave the stuff and walk out… The cost by restocking the shelves far outweighs the cost in ANY transaction fee, and to be fair, it costs them no more, no less than accepting ANY credit or debit card…!

      • ericpruss - 9 years ago

        Using a credit card will still hit the retailer with the transaction fees, which typically range from 1-3% of the total amount of the sale. However, when you swipe a credit card, your name, address, and other info about you is read by their system, which they can use to track you. Just the credit card number alone is enough to track you with if they have your data in their database from prior transactions. Cash, however is entirely anonymous (unless they connect their arsenal of video cameras to facial tracking systems, in which case inventing an actual scramble suit, a la “A Scanner Darkly”, would be quite useful).

        Ultimately however, there are other, arguably better pharmacies out there, including two that are official Apple Pay partners, Walgreens and Target, so do business with one of theminstad, and simply boycott CVS and Rite-Aid, and if you have the time, try to let their executive team know of your decision by communicating with the CEO (CVS is Larry Merlo, larry.merlo@cvscaremark.com; Rite-Aid’s CEO is John T. Standley – could not find email or phone for him, but their contact form has lets you choose the board of directors, of which Standley is the chairman at https://www.riteaid.com/customer-support/contact-us).

    • J David Crawford - 9 years ago

      I am sure that Walgreens has seen a nice uptick in revenues since the advent of Pay. I am voting with my dollars by using the merchants who offer NFC technology for my shopping needs. I no longer shop at Walmart and I will likely not go back to CVS when they finally backpedal on their decision to not consider the customer. Unless someone likes the 5 to 7 business-day-wait while a bank card is being replaced after fraudulent use, I suggest a switch to Pay.

  2. Mike Knopp (@mknopp) - 9 years ago

    Hey, CVS and Rite-Aid, you hear that popping sound?

    That is the sound of Walgreen’s celebrating.

    Consumers are getting tired of constantly being tracked and they are definitely tired of feeling vulnerable simply because they shop. The MCX is so wrong headed for today’s market that I am shocked it is still even a thing.

    Whether Apple Pay is the next big thing or not is actually irrelevant. I can assure you that the CurrentC system will fail and fail big.

  3. David Tan (@d4vidtan) - 9 years ago

    I think apple will persuade them to join in NFC club. This is just a matter of time like iPad trademark, Microsoft Office for iPad, AirDrop etc. As long as the service is relevant and a game changer, you can’t deny them. Also, this just happened in US, if the whole world make it a standard, their boycott game is over.

  4. sshadowssin - 9 years ago

    We need a more official place to create a petition of sorts. Do they look at reddit enough?

  5. Wayne Ancell - 9 years ago

    They should re-activate the NFC and leave it up to us to use whatever program we want to that meets the NFC standards.

    • Michael Napier (@NapMan) - 9 years ago

      I think they are under contract with CurrentC that forbids them from taking competing payment methods.

      • So isn’t a standard credit card swipe or even cash a competing payment method? If these merchants accept the fees they pay for me to swipe my card, then what’s the difference if I hold my phone to the terminal, the charge is the same. If they incurred higher fees for accepting Apple Pay, I could understand, but this is purely motivated by greed.

      • Mark Harr (@markharr) - 9 years ago

        I’ve seen that “reported” several places. However, Target is one the CurrentC members, and they were announcing proudly on iPhone6 announcement day that they accept Apple Pay.

      • lonerider591 - 9 years ago

        Its odd that Target is onboard with a system that is by far less secure than Apple Pay after what they went through when they were hacked their customer’s credit cards were compromised. I doubt that CurrentC will allow them to use both methods.

    • 89p13 - 9 years ago

      But, Apple Pay is a credit card – and they want out from under those fees.

      All they care about is their bottom line – though, with enough boycotts, their bottom line will suffer more than just those 2 or 3% fees that they pay the credit card companies!

  6. Toro Volt (@torovolt) - 9 years ago

    Didn’t Apple banned Bose and Fitbit wearables from Apple stores because of “Conflict of Interest”?
    Why any other Merchant shouldn’t have the right to choose the methods of payment they support?
    i have an iPhone 5S and ipad mini3 but i can not use Apple Pay, my girlfriend owns a Galaxy4 so she doesnt care about it. But we can use CurrentC even my mom who has my old iPhone 4, so guess who is going to gain more traction?
    By the way where are these Android users rallying for NFC? Lol

    • paulywalnuts23 - 9 years ago

      If you seriously think that CurrentC is the better option here you need to go and do some research on the pros and cons of all systems.. You will see that the only loser in the CurrentC system is the customer. So I hate to tell you this but CurrentC will not be gaining any traction…

      • Toro Volt (@torovolt) - 9 years ago

        What is the problem with CurrentC?
        It will support Credit Cards, I can use it with my phone and I do my grocery shopping at Walmart because they have better prices. Sometimes I go to Bestbuy and Target and they dont support Apple Pay in stores either.
        So Is like I dont really have an option LOL
        So Apple Pay is DOA for me as well as for the rest 98% of consumers.
        And not I am not planning to buy an iPhone6 yet, since I got my 5s two months ago.
        I could buy the Apple watch but currently I am happy with my Pebble watch that unlike Apple watch it last a week between charges, is water proof and cost me $99 lol

      • 89p13 - 9 years ago

        It Does NOT support Credit Cards – It’s debited from your bank account.

        Read the article – then post

    • Apple did remove Bose, but that situation is slightly different. Bose actively sued Apple and then they decided to not sell there products. In the case with NFC these retailers are saying we don’t want your money.

    • irelandjnr - 9 years ago

      They should have a right, but now that they have we should vote with our dollars and shop at alternate pharmacies. No one is forcing you to shop at the  Store just the same.  stopped selling competing music players when they released the iPod. This is the same.

    • Matt farrow (@FattyM77) - 9 years ago

      i don’t think anyone is arguing that they don’t have the right to do it. They are just saying that they are choosing not to shop there as a result of their decision.

      • Toro Volt (@torovolt) - 9 years ago

        I dont know about you but consumers care more about price and product availability than method of payment. When in doubt use cash or credit. BAM! Problem solved.

      • Some Dude in NC - 9 years ago

        IT’s not so much “method of payment” that is the problem with CurrentC. The problem with CurrentC is that it is insecure,inconvenient, insecure, insecure, and insecure. Did I mention it’s also insecure? That’s really the thing. It’s not as easy to use, and you’re giving your actual bank account information to retailers who have already proven that they are terrible at safeguarding your information. I won’t use it. And for those vendors who are actively eliminating NFC when they had it before… I am not shopping with them any longer either. I’m fine with them trying to compete, but compete on your merits. Be better. Notice how Apple hasn’t bothered to pull CurrentC from the app store? They could. Google could pull it from their app store. Neither has for all the right reasons. The competition is fine with them.

    • epogue - 9 years ago

      CurrentC does not support credit cards. It links directly to your checking account (which puts all liability for fraud solely on you), and also asks for your driver’s license number, social security number, and health data. You can’t tell me that’s not asinine.

      • Toro Volt (@torovolt) - 9 years ago

        Wow A fear mongering campaign is unleashed, Health Data?! Lol
        That would be like illegal in the first place.

      • epogue - 9 years ago

        You may want to do your homework, @torovolt. http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/25/currentc/

      • Jimmy Song - 9 years ago

        @torovolt, check your facts. If you look at the Techcrunch article entitled “CurrentC Is The Big Retailers’ Clunky Attempt To Kill Apple Pay And Credit Card Fees”, it has screenshots from the CurrentC app that clearly show they collect “health & medical” data.

      • Craig Jacobs - 9 years ago

        @torovolt, When astroturfing it’s generally a good idea to paint the product you are shilling in a positive light and not engage in trading “facts” when the facts do not support your position. New to this?

    • What’s wrong with CurrentC? How about a direct access to your bank account or inability to initiate a chargeback because merchant and merchant only controls transaction from beginning to the end! No thanks.

    • You go ahead and let companies like Walmart and Target have direct access to your bank account. Let me know how that works out for you. I wouldn’t use CurrentC even if I didn’t have a 6 Plus.

    • Craig Jacobs - 9 years ago

      You really should educate yourself before taking the time to comment.

      1. Apple removing Bose from their store in favor of Beats is not even close to a good comparison to a retail chain banning a method of payment. A more apt example will be when Apple bans CurrentC from the app store because it conflicts with Apple Pay.
      2. Actually, merchants do have that “right”. However contracts with other payment providers (Visa, MC, etc) may have something to say about that at some point. If you take those cards in your business you are contractually prohibited from offering discounts for cash for example.
      3. Neither can your GF use Google Wallet on her Galaxy (BTW, you let your GF bet a Samsung phone? What kind of BF are you?)
      4. CurrentC is so clunky to use, and has so many down sides that it will gain as much traction as using QR codes for marketing. (little to none).

    • Joe Cheng - 9 years ago

      First off, how reliable/accurate the TechCrunch article is still unknown as CurrentC has not launched yet. That being said, it does paint an ominous picture in terms of collecting my shopping behavior/patterns and linking directly to my checking account for ACH transactions that limits my fraud protection.

      Apple Pay, in my opinion, will take at least a year to really gain mainstream traction and I hope that once the novelty of using it wears off, people will be patient as more retailers roll out support.

      What CVS, Rite-Aid and MCX partners are doing is truly asinine. While it is true that I can still just swipe my credit card and pay in the absence of support for Apple Pay and not wanting to use CurrentC, it is a matter of principal with me that I do not want to be supporting an anti-consumer retailer.

    • The problem is this, you’re giving your banking information, not your credit card info, directly to the merchant. Let me put it this way. With Apple Pay, the merchant never sees your name or your credit card number, they see a temporary number that is used once (a token) that is transmitted via NFC and your bank approves the transaction instantly. You hold your phone up for about 1 sec with your finger (securely done with a finger print, not a QR code) on the home button and boom you’re done.

      With CurrentC, you have download the app, sign up for the service and give them your bank account information. That’s the first problem. You see, if your credit card is stolen, banks can change the card number and issue a new card and the issuer, be it Visa, MC or whomever will pay it back to the bank. If there is a breach and your account number leaks, you are screwed royally, because now there is no back stop. With retailers like Home Depot (a MCX member), Target (another) and Jimmy Johns all being hacked and credit cards being leaked, imagine what happens now. Now hackers have access to your whole damn account, not just a credit card number. That’s on top of the fact that you have to pull out your phone, open then app, then take a picture of a QR code the retailer has placed at the register, then let it load, then have it generate a QR code on your phone to present to the clerk. It’s a freaking mess, it’s unsecure and cumbersome. That’s why you shouldn’t use it.

      If you don’t have an iPhone 6 or an Apple Watch, use cash or your existing credit or debt card. Is that clear enough?

      • Kisai (@Kisai) - 9 years ago

        CurrentC is a lot more like handing a blank check to your retailer and going “now don’t misuse this now”

    • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

      Are you like the new head troll around here? You’re even more dumb than herb is! Please just STFU you asswipe!

  7. OneOkami (@OneOkami) - 9 years ago

    I have no interest in moving backwards in mobile payments and no interest in supporting retailers that are doing so. If they think I’m going to go from not having to reveal my actual credit card information to them to giving them a direct link to my bank account and surrendering fraud protection they are sorely mistaken.

    Vote with your wallets (err..devices) and make those retailers have to make a choice whether they’d rather deal with credit card fees or significant hits to their bottom line.

  8. Tony C (@Muadibe10) - 9 years ago

    I just called CVS customer relations and informed them I’d moved scripts to Walgreens. I suggested they take a look online at all of the negative feedback. The guy gave me ticket number – lol. He also had a pretty lame excuse – that they had problems with all NFC payments and had to turn them off to ‘make adjustments’. I let him know I was quite aware of their CurrentC involvement, which I suggested would be going nowhere.

    Email them and/or call them. It’s important for them to know why people are leaving.

    Corporate Customer Relations is 401-765-1500.

  9. gc3182 - 9 years ago

    “Will you be joining the boycott?”

    Abso-stinking-lutely. And that’s even before my iPhone 6 arrives. Just as I’m switching to T-mobile from AT&T, even without getting an Apple SIM-based device. Principle counts. This is how the companies (Rite-Aid, CVS, AT&T) treat their paying customers?!

    There is a price for thinking profit-first. Steve Jobs knew it. (See “The Seed of Apple’s Innovation”, BusinessWeek, October 12, 2004.) David Packard (HP co-founder) knew it. (See HP’s “Origins” video, chapter 4 “The purpose of a company”, which sadly is no longer viewable on hp.com. Instead, jump to the 5:53 mark on the Internet Achive at: https://archive.org/details/HPOrigins)

    Apple still knows it; HP forgot.

  10. Jesse Supaman Nichols - 9 years ago

    This is actually GOOD news for the consumer! How many of us have been in the situation where we couldn’t decide which pharmacy to go to! Thanks for helping me make my decision CVS and Rite Aid… I will ONLY be going to Walgreens now!

  11. “We think consumers should have the ability to pay any way they want”

    They do, they reach in and take out one of those plastic cards and swipe it… don’t we have more important things to worry about than how to save 15 seconds paying for viagra?

    • macmyke - 9 years ago

      Viagra? Did that veiled sexual reference turn you on? cause people who use them get turned on by them. Just saying…

      • CVS (a pharmacy) sells one of the most advertised and joked about drugs, viagra. Had I said Prozac, would you have asked if I was a schizophrenic or bi-polar? If I used it, do you think I would have made that comment? Since you took the time to call attention to my choice of drug to associate with my comment, perhaps it is you who was turned on myke. Or a little twisted…

    • OneOkami (@OneOkami) - 9 years ago

      Do you realize how much credit card fraud there is and all the data security breaches that are happening almost routinely? Go ask Target, I’m sure they have a story to tell.

      This is about more than just convenience. This is about security. You’re missing the big picture here.

    • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

      OK, making fun of identify theft and credit card fraud, and defending a merchant taking away the consumer’s right to use more secure methods of payment, gotcha…

      I smell troll…

  12. chrisl84 - 9 years ago

    Not sure of the legality of what CVS and Rite Aid are doing as it smells awfully anti-competitive and harmful to consumers. But, Im not a lawyer so who knows.

  13. I think it’s wrong to limit choices but is it really? You still have the debit card/credit card, use it.

    • chrisl84 - 9 years ago

      Tell that to everyone who had their CC numbers stolen from Target and Home Depot. Apple Pay promotes security. The benefit isnt I didnt have to swipe a card, its I didnt have to provide the retailer with my information.

    • epogue - 9 years ago

      The idea here is to move on to more secure methods than standard number-based debit/credit cards. This only holds us back.

      • Also a good point. I was mainly looking at Apple Pay a convenience but of course it would be more secure.

  14. Do what I did and tweet @riteaid and @cvs (well check their handles) and let them know that from now on you are happy to only shop @walgreens. If there is one thing I learned a long time ago is that tweeting corporations does have results. I personally don’t care about any of the other companies part of that consortium. I use amazon and not best buy, Walmart is the worse and its heirs already have 35B in their bank accounts, and I have never gone to the others. Have already used ApplePay twice. At Whole Foods and Walgreens and it could have not been easier.

  15. onefreetrajectory - 9 years ago

    Apple has to do nothing about this. Apple built a technically superior product that is super customer friendly. Apple Pay has been described by the banks as the most secure payment method on the planet. It is the banks and credit card companies that will force the change as they typically assume all the fraud risk, not the stores or the customers. If CurrentC is to survive at all, it will have to co-exist with Apple Pay, and it will likely have to assume all fraud loss risk or share that risk with consumers. Good luck with that.

  16. Josh (@Joshua_Cochrane) - 9 years ago

    Anyone start up a hashtag for this yet?

    • trombone1994 - 9 years ago

      Reddit made #PayItSafe and I’m using it with #BoycottCurrentC

  17. Buh bye CVS. My Medicare plan is heading to Walgreens. And buh bye AT&T; I’ve had it with your bait and switch tactics.

  18. MacDaddy (@woutervan) - 9 years ago

    Walgreens and Chevron have won my business

  19. david0296 - 9 years ago

    Do they really think that customers are going to willingly give them direct access to their checking accounts? That’s NEVER going to happen. Plus, the QR Code thing sounds incredibly stupid, and even MORE time consuming than just using a credit card. Do these companies actually believe that customers won’t be able to shop somewhere else that will provide better payment options? Think I won’t be able to stop shopping at CVS, Sears or Target? Guess again.

  20. No one’s even talking about one of the scariest aspects of CurrentC – the ability to track your movement around the city/country along with your detailed purchasing history, down to the specific product level cross each and every participating merchant. That data may be accessible to all the participants and is definitely accessible to anyone who hacks their system.

    So let’s forget the silly QR codes and the time it wastes, the privacy aspects, even beyond the drivers license and social security codes, is absolutely frightening.

    So if you want the GAP to know that you recently bought some prescription ointment for a genital infection, this sounds like the payment system for you. Look at all the benefits, they’ll be able to recommend some looser fitting pants. ;)

    • 89p13 - 9 years ago

      ” they’ll be able to recommend some looser fitting pants.”

      Or, if they see an iPhone 6Plus in your pocket! :lol:

    • Craig Jacobs - 9 years ago

      This is the major problem with this. MCX members will have access to all the customer information for all customers in the MCX cartel, and I don’t think you have to use CurrentC for them to do that. They already have your basic information from swiping your card, or customer loyalty accounts you have set up. That alone is a reason not to shop at any MCX member retailer at all.

  21. yuniverse7 - 9 years ago

    CurrentC is digging their own grave.

  22. jkstexas - 9 years ago

    I am backing Apple Pay. The decision to stick with clunky and hard to use CurrentC is the wrong decision.

  23. Toro Volt (@torovolt) - 9 years ago

    To Apple Fanboys. Lol
    CurrentC will support Credit Cards.
    Direct form the source.
    http://www.currentc.com

    • OneOkami (@OneOkami) - 9 years ago

      This is all I see there regarding Credit Card support:

      “Use your checking accounts, store gift cards and select store debit and credit cards.”

      Select store debit and credit cards. I’m guessing those are cards manged by the stores supporting this payment system which are not any cards I actually use.

      If that’s what you’re referring to I barely consider that credit card support. If you’re referring to something else which clearly states I can use my bank credit cards please point it out as that would be interesting to note.

    • Craig Jacobs - 9 years ago

      “store” credit cards. As in your Sears card or your JCP card.

      I think this is appropriate for you: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

    • azianice - 9 years ago

      I have an android phone, I don’t have a mac. i don’t have anything apple. And as an unbiased opinion, you lost this argument long ago with your lack of research and quick trigger finger on responding to facts presented to you. I’m sorry, but just admit it and stop making yourself look worse. OneOkami already pointed out that it says “select store debit and credit cards” proving to you that its not your normal visa/mastercard you can whip out. It’s been proven that it tracks health data when you say that’d be illegal. It’s been proven that they won’t accept major credit cards, which you use a poorly worded, misleading quote from the “source” (because they have no agenda to promote their own system right?) to try to argue with. Dude, you just lost. Don’t dig yourself into the ditch any further.

    • Probably time to stop, this is getting embarrassing… you haven’t brought up one correct fact yet.

    • macgyverdxs - 9 years ago

      Actually direct from the source : Use your checking accounts, store gift cards and select store debit and credit cards. SELECT STORE DEBIT AND CREDIT CARDS. That doesn’t mean any credit card just store cards.

    • rchau28 - 9 years ago

      @torovolt It’s ok, LOL
      I didn’t read it clearly either, but it looks like store credit cards only.

  24. beyondthetech - 9 years ago

    Look, I get why the CEPO of MasterCard is saying what he’s saying. He obviously has a vested interest in Apple Pay, seeing how it keeps those seller transaction fees in check. While CurrentC may be cheaper, it’s just not a good solution, and they’d be blind or stupid not to see that – less security, less privacy, more intrusive, more cumbersome, and more complex than Apple Pay. Customers want simplicity and security, and when they’ve achieved that goal, then the merchants can demand lesser fees from credit card companies when the number of fraud cases drop, the less overhead and less physical cards that are needed, etc.

  25. Alain Alexander Fleitas - 9 years ago

    yup.. WE the people the consumer must voice our opinion by acting… not for Apple in particular but for the future!

  26. macmyke - 9 years ago

    Dear CVS, I am sorry to hear that you have blocked Apple device owners from using Apple Inc. ApplePay. While I believe this decision is a critical business error, you certainly have the right to make such decisions. Additionally, I have the right to give my patronage to anyone I choose, unfortunately YOU have removed yourself off my list of frequent shopped at stores. While I am only one customer and you won’t miss my cash, I believe the strong and coveted loyal Apple Inc. consumer will also vote with their wallets. (please research the Demographic of Apple Consumers).

    Now with all that said, perhaps when you obligations to Merchant Customer eXchange have expired, you will then consider payment forms that truly protect customers and move mobile payments into modernity.

  27. rettun1 - 9 years ago

    Somebody on a MR forum made a great point in a email/letter they were sending to the companies, saying something along the lines of “I would think that your companies would pass the savings onto the consumer” which is genius (because that’s exactly what they are NOT going to do)

    • bqecze - 9 years ago

      Last week one could use their iPhone 6/Plus to make purchases at CVS or RiteAid. I tried it and it was great. Now they (CVS/RiteAid) have removed the most convenient and secure payment options, regardless of the cost of implementing or conflicting interests of competing technologies, they have just limited a major way for customers to hand over money to them. How does that make any sense at all? Not to mention the fact that it just passively worked, they did not have to install different terminals etc.. it was passively all positives for them. Yet they have had to now spend money to disable a way of receiving money from customers and improving the overall experience in their stores. Again how does that make any sense.

  28. rhfrancis - 9 years ago

    NFC is what is best for this consumer. I’ll boycott the MCX members.

  29. Elli Thekingofbroadway - 9 years ago

    YES! It’s such a lack of foresight. Plus, it forces consumers to pay CASH for these transactions bypassing Credit Cards and their points and perks!

  30. Walgreens it is then. It’s a bummer because I was all excited when I got to use Apple pay at CVS earlier last week but so be it.

  31. chriscarnie1 - 9 years ago

    How about boycotting all stores that are on board with CurrentC? Like Best Buy, and others.

  32. reese728 - 9 years ago

    What give u my SSN and Driver’s license info and then u got the nerve to want my medical info. Ish like this really gets to me with all the privacy concerns breaches and what not you just cant be serious, so you can track me and send me countless ads and no telling what info of mines you’ll be giving like my SSN!! Major Major privacy violation. Shame on you Wal-mart. Greedy! At least with Apple their product is the product not the consumer. ugh. GTH!!

  33. Brian Hughes (@bgrh) - 9 years ago

    Hell No, We Won’t Go. NFC sets us Free! Current C, Screws Me!

  34. William Hughes - 9 years ago

    Walgreens approves of that move. I never really had a preferred drug store but now I do. Basically anything that isn’t CVS.

  35. David Aaron Eklove - 9 years ago

    I won’t support any company that does not support Apple Pay, including my Credit Union

  36. taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

    Since CVS and other retailers lease the terminals from financial providers do they even have the right to turn off NFC?

    Currentc is still in a private pilot, so it’s srupid for them to already rage war against NFC payments. Again couldn’t the companies that lease the Pos terminals simple pull all the terminals and make the offending companies except just cash?

  37. Carlos Chan - 9 years ago

    So, this is my first time to chime in on something on these blogs. I say, Apple and Android fans attempt to give these retailers our business, and when we can’t pay with our preferred method of payment, just leave all the merchandise behind and walk away. I think this will send a strong message if it happens enough.

    • trombone1994 - 9 years ago

      Thats a terrible idea. That takes out your anger in poor store employees that have no control over this policy. Take out your anger(respectfully) on upper management

      • yuniverse7 - 9 years ago

        you don’t have to attempt to buy many things – just couple items. “Upper management” won’t really care for your letters or emails, but they will care if enough voice their concern through their retail stores.

  38. PMZanetti - 9 years ago

    Apple needs to make a decisive move here and just remove CurrentC from the App Store as the questionable and potentially dangerous scam that it is.

  39. Join the petition and push it out to friends, this goes for both Apple and Android fans alike, they shouldn’t limit our choices.

    https://www.change.org/p/mike-deangelis-at-cvs-accept-apple-pay-and-google-wallet-give-customers-a-choice

  40. Johnny Turner - 9 years ago

    I’m already boycotting any place that denies apple pay or NFC payments.

  41. markpetereit - 9 years ago

    Already Tweeted CVS to let them know they’re cutting off anothef customer. Walgreens is right across the street and they LOVE Apple Pay.

    I really didn’t need another reason to not shop at Walmart, but this just steels my resolve to stay away.

  42. Dennis Jones - 9 years ago

    Got my iPhone6 and will do my shopping with the NFC. Stores without NFC will not see me.

  43. captainfodder - 9 years ago

    CurrenC is hopefully going to be DoA (Dead on Arrival) as it’s going to require customers SSN and Drivers License #’s in order to signup and use the service: http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/2kggv1/currentc_is_pretty_much_dead_on_arrival_with_this/

  44. Aj Chan - 9 years ago

    Yes. I am boycotting! I am tired of the feeling someone can recording the card strip.

  45. JoeyNice - 9 years ago

    From a Rite Aid customer service rep…
    Hello,

    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!

    Chelsea Ralls
    Rite Aid Customer Care

    • Edison Wrzosek - 9 years ago

      That is corporate speak for “Apple Pay and Google Wallet are too secure, not letting us spy into every facet of your private buying life, so we’ve turned those off, even though they are 100% functional at our locations, instead forcing you into our currently totally inferior magstripe method, and later on we’ll migrate you to an equally inferior, and even more invasive custom app called CurrentC. Hope you stay stupid and continue shopping with us while we rape your private life dry!”

  46. Darwin Evolved - 9 years ago

    My letter (email) to the Department of Justice Anti-Trust Division regarding the CurrentC Cartel Blocking Apple Pay:

    Recently Apple has introduced a new secure payment system based in part upon existing NFC technology that works with the newest Apple iPhones. It is agnostic as regards payment and is supported my Visa, Master Card and American Express. The list of banking and financial institutions that honor and support or plan to support is growing and long. This is an option that many consumers and merchants have been looking for.

    The list of merchants that have joined what looks like a cartel to support a rival system have actively turned off access to Apple Pay customers on existing payment systems in some of their stores (CVS and Rite-Aid have been reported widely in the media) as well as Google’s NFC based secure payment system. Wal-Mart has also announced that it will not support the system despite having the technical ability to do so. This is concerning for consumers who wish to have a choice of secured payment systems.

    Looking at the list of member/partner retailers shows almost every large chain retailer including Target, Sears/K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Publix and almost every large chain operator of fuel stations in the United States. I am no lawyer, but this looks like a cartel and the blocking of previous support for NFC systems from Apple and Google looks like a co-ordinated effort to kill off rival payment systems, denying consumers a choice. The fact that the Apple system is not data mined and the CurrentC system is, makes the option to use Apple Pay for those concerned with privacy even more important.

    I am formally requesting that the Anti-trust division of the Justice Department investigate this matter to see if anti-trust laws have been violated in any way. I am also formally asking that the results of the inquiry be made public at the soonest possible date. This matter not only involves free markets, consumer choice and open markets- it also involves denial of consumer choice for a payment system that is designed to protect the privacy rights of consumers from data mining.

    Thank You

    Send yours to:

    antitrust.atr@usdoj.gov

  47. Rich S. (@NYRick) - 9 years ago

    I strongly urge a boycott on these companies. I’m personally baffled that they would disable my right to pay any way I want for the benefit of their own app which doesn’t even exist yet!

  48. Shawn McBee - 9 years ago

    I don’t think I can manage a boycott on all those companies. It’d make life quite limiting. I will, however, only use credit cards at those institutions, forcing them to pay the fees they’re so keen to avoid.

  49. lonerider591 - 9 years ago

    Boycott it is. The customer should decide which payment method to use. Being forced to adhoc, unsecured and awkward way to make payments makes no sense.
    A boycott from Android and iOS, its a force of one that cannot be defeated. Unite!!

  50. Greg Hanson - 9 years ago

    This is very stupid on their part. The last thing a business should do is make it inconvenient for customers to pay for goods and services. 10 million Americans just bought an iPhone 6 and would love to find a reason to use the new functionality. As a business owner, I would embrace anything that encourages customers to spend money in my establishment. Cutting off a well established secure technology to push an less-secure limited system just to save a few percent on credit card fees is a very short sighted decision.

    I predict this decision will be reversed in short order.

  51. Eduardo Garcia - 9 years ago

    This is a fight between Credit Card Companies vs Stores over fees. Customer caught in the middle. CVS & Riteaid messed up as far as preception. No body likes to feel strong armed. Natural reaction will be to punish them by going elsewhere to shop.

    If iOS & Android users decide they want NFC.. the argument is over. I think most of us feel safer using credit cards because it does NOT come from directly from our bank accounts.. and CC companies offer zero liability on fraud. I can’t see myself giving my bank account numbers to the CurrenC program. But again.. the consumers will determine this one by demand.

  52. Duane Reade/Walgreens here I come. Thank you CVS and Rite Aid for making choice so easy.

  53. applepayftw - 9 years ago

    I am going to go CVS and grab a whole bunch of stuff and ask them if they support Apple Pay. Once they say no, I wont purchase it. Not only this will disappoint them but they will have to put the items back on shelf and get no money and not want to work at CVS.

  54. Justin Harbour - 9 years ago

    I WILL NEVER SHOP AT CVS OR RITE AID UNLESS THEY STOP THIS MADNESS.

  55. Ryan Morano - 9 years ago

    Ask Microsoft about Tag and how well that did.

    I any store actively disabling NFC, I will actively be avoiding.

  56. Ripton Johnson - 9 years ago

    Boycott CVS & Rite Aid
    http://youtu.be/9ZHusVNa1_A
    Apple pay is the quickest, fastest, most secure and easiest form of paying for an item in a store I have seen. I do not agree with these stores that are now disabling their NFC systems to not accept Apple Pay. I think they are cutting off their respective nose’s to spite their face.

    (1) Apple pay would drastically reduce time spent in line. Because every time I have used Apple pay so far in the 6 days since it’s initiation it only took 2 seconds max to get an approval and a receipt on apple pay.

    (2) It is not good business sense to piss off your customers.

    (3) Since the majority of I-Phone 6 and 6+ owners usually have a higher buying power. These merchants will be left with only the people patronizing their stores that buy $10.00 items.
    (4) It however, seems that they are mostly after the poor with the adaptation of the MCX or CurrentC system they want to utilize. Since this will give them direct access to peoples bank accounts. I’ll be damned if I will give them access to my account.

    (5) It would not be so bad if their current system did not allow for the use of Apple Pay. However it does because it is the NFC system. Both CVS and Rite Aid’s system accepted payments by way of Apple pay for the first three days of this week. Now to willfully disconnect the machines from the NFC system to me is malicious. This shows little disregard for their clients and prospective clients. (Their machines now say ” We do not accept Apple Pay”) That had to be programmed into the machines.

    The ironic thing is that CurrentC operates on Apple & Google platform. What happens if Apple and Google pull the plug? Remember what happened when Apple pulled the plug on Google Maps. It took two years of cinsumer complaints to get it back

    I am suggesting a boycott of these two stores. Since I know for certain they accepted apple pay and then and now refusing. It is a simple and easy boycott see link

    http://youtu.be/9ZHusVNa1_A

  57. Here is how you nip this in the bud real quick. Walmart is the real ring leader here behind this MCX crap. What do I care if Visa, MC, or Amex charge them 2% to 3% fees? If they don’t pay the fees to them, they sure as heck aren’t going to give the money back to the customer which means the customer pays the same and the retailer makes more money. I’ll pass.

    Now if you want to do this right the boycott ALL stores that banned Apple pay (especially Walmart) for the BLACK FRIDAY weekend coming up. Then, I’m sure they will have all Apple pay back up by Christmas.

  58. tvillian - 9 years ago

    I’ll be joining the boycott and have already switched to Walgreens from CVS and Chevron from Shell, and if forced to use any other retailers that do not take Apple Pay I will pay with a credit card and still will not use their planned junk system with so many hoops to jump through. They will still be paying credit card fees on me, and we will still be at the mercy of hackers because these retailers not participating in a secure way of paying evidently think we enjoy continually having our credit card and debit card information stolen in their stores. So, I go first where Apple Pay is taken, and will only use credit cards where it is not taken. Credit cards leave a lot to be desired but I feel will still be more secure than giving CVS, Wal-Mart, and others all my personal info for them to store in the cloud. Let’s get real people. I was hacked at Target, Home Depot, and P.F. Change, and have yet to determine if I was hacked at Staples. At least Staples will be now accepting Apple Pay.

  59. Darrin (@DarSea2) - 9 years ago

    Your money.?. and.. it’s gone!

  60. Darrin (@DarSea2) - 9 years ago

    CurrentCee seems about as cumbersome and pointless as texting for coupons

  61. Steven Rohmer - 9 years ago

    Walmart and consortium rub me the wrong way in their decision to fight positive change. Non progressive, conservative and self serving. I am boycotting those stores who want to block progress for what’s best for people, and in the case of Walmart, I’m glad to finally pass at the act to no longer tolerate their megalithic hold, and abuse of, people in general.

  62. Brian Rollman Zapata - 9 years ago

    Freedom to pay how I want!!!! Long live NFC!!! Long Live Applepay

  63. Mike Reed (@mikeweb68) - 9 years ago

    Here is a copy of emails and complaints I have been filing with CVS, Target, Best Buy, Lowes and others. These retailers, by complying with CurrentC rules have taken away my choice to protect my credit card number.

    “This letter is to let you know that I have decided to stop shopping at your stores because you have elected to take away my choice of using Apple Pay as a payment method. To remove that as an option is tantamount to a slap in the face. You have every right to stop using Apple Pay, I don’t deny that. I am a victim of having my credit card number stolen through one of the recent hacking schemes and for you to take away the right for me to protect my privacy and protect my credit card information is not acceptable.

    The interesting thing is that I don’t have an IPhone 6 yet, but it ordered. I will be using it protect my information and since your company prohibits me from doing that I cannot do business with you.”

    And, by the way, I have stopped going to these retailers. If enough people stop patronizing these stores, they will get the hint. Folks please consider letting the retailers know that this practice is not acceptable. They are taking away your right to protect your credit card info and privacy.

    There other points to consider here that I didn’t mention in my letter to these retailers.
    As mentioned in the article, in order for a consumer to use CurrentC, they must register and give them their checking account number. When that form of payment is used, then the retailer is paid by taking the money out of the users checking account. The retailer avoids the credit card fee. While that is obviously good for the retailer, it is not so good for the consumer. What happens when the system is hacked and your bank account information is in the hands of the thief? I shudder to think. I am very protective of my credit card info, even more so with my checking account number. I rarely give that to anyone, especially online (and another reason to never use a debit card online.) What happens if a mistake is made in the transaction, such as $800 out of your checking account instead of $8 or $80 and your house payment bounces? It would be a very cold day to allow a retailer to have access to my checking account.

    Also mentioned in the article is it gives the retailer the ability to track you. Yes, its true that the loyalty programs do that as well but that normally stays within the retailer. With CurrentC who knows where the tracking will go. Will Best Buy know what my “track” record is with Lowes, CVS and Target? Thanks, but no thanks.

  64. Elli Thekingofbroadway - 9 years ago

    IF I were that guy I would suggest going into CVS or Rite-Aid filling my cart with as much small merchandise as I possibly could & check out & when payment time came & they said “oh sorry we don’t take Apple Pay” I would say “oh then I don’t want anything” & just walk out – but of course, I’m not ;-)

  65. Nick Brown - 9 years ago

    I think all of these companies that have bought into CurrentC entered into contracts long before Apple Pay was a reality. Only now that it has been publicly release have the terms of the contracts become relevant. I can’t imagine that each of these companies doesn’t have their lawyers’ pens buzzing, trying to get out of their lousy contracts. #BoycottMCX #Boycottgarbage

  66. Steven Harp - 9 years ago

    I will only shop at the drugstores offering Apple Pay.

  67. Philip Tomlins - 9 years ago

    if i lived there i would but i am in the uk:(

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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