Apple has reportedly been working with several national retailers about supporting its mobile payment system, and now a new report suggests that two pharmacy chains, CVS and Walgreens, have agreed to join up with Apple to roll the system out in their stores. The system is expected to be built into the iPhone 6 when it launches later this month.
Re/code notes that while Apple and Walgreens decided not to comment on the matter, CVS apparently issued a bit of a rebuttal, indicating that the company had no idea what type of payment system Cupertino was working on and had no way of knowing if they’d be able to support it.
CVS is also part with a group of retailers attempting to create its own new payment system, so it seems like an odd choice for Apple to target when the pharmacy has an interest in a competing service. Walgreens, on the other hand, is already deep into the Apple ecosystem, and has been testing an iBeacon-powered app to assist shoppers in its Duane Reade stores.
Still, it’s a big “get” for Apple, if both of these stores are on board with the plan. The two chains have a total of over 15,000 stores across the United States.
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Considering both of these retailers use NFC, they probably don’t need to add anything additional.
Chick-fil-A in Rocky River and Strongsville Ohio are on board as well, i work at CFA and we just got new scanners for iPhones
Yay!!! Hooray! Hey, is that my Walgreens in the picture?!
Great! I go to Walgreens all the time and use my rewards card. There must be about four of them within walking distance from my house. I’ve also got a CVS card and that’s where I have my prescriptions filled. Everything will be working out for me. Apple is going for the gold.
I was going to mention if Walgreens on board then so is Duane Reade
You can use your iPhone to buy your smokes … oops!
And then track your smoking-related ailments using Health.app? Vertical integration at its finest!
Is this going to be a US only thing like iTunes Radio?
My bet is that iTunes Radio (possibly a refined version affiliated to Beats) goes international (or at least in a major set of countries) from just after the September 9 announcements.