Beyond simply refusing to shop in their stores, if you find yourself in a store you didn’t know was blocking Apple Pay or if you have no other alternative, “when a CVS, a Rite Aid, or another store rejects your phone payment, you can punish them by socking them with transaction fees,” Rob Pegoraro reports for Yahoo Tech. “Instead of using their mobile payment system, whip out your credit card. And not just any credit card, but one with a higher transaction fee.”
“Say you’ve got three cards handy: a regular Visa, a fancier Visa labeled ‘Signature Preferred,’ and an American Express. The first can cost between 1.15 to 1.65 percent for the merchant to accept, the second raises that to 2.1 to 2.4 percent, and the AmEx runs from 2.89 to 3.2 percent,” Pegoraro reports.
(AmEx can pull that off because of its record of attracting spendier shoppers, but it’s not alone in employing this strategy.) Using MasterCard instead? Its ‘World’ cards also cost extra, though not as much.”
“And since most of these premium cards reward your spending with cash or points back, the word for using them to punish a control-freak merchant can be not just ‘priceless,’ but ‘profitable,'” Pegoraro reports. “Perhaps the retailers will get the message and begin to once again let customers pay for goods the way they want to.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: First and foremost, don’t shop at any Apple Pay blockers, but if you’re stuck, this is a good alternative. We plan to AMEX the ever-living crap out of any retailer we find that’s artificially blocking Apple Pay.
Related articles:
iPhone users and Android settlers raid reviews of CurrentC payments app – October 29, 2014
Retailer-backed MCX Apple Pay rival has already been hacked; testers’ email addresses stolen – October 29, 2014
Why Walmart, CVS and Rite-Aid really hate Apple Pay: They can’t track your buying habits – October 29, 2014
CurrentC retailers’ conundrum: MCX contract expressly bars Apple Pay acceptance – October 29, 2014
Retailers like CVS and Rite Aid that block Apple Pay are taking a big security risk – October 28, 2014
Apple Pay tussle with CVS, Rite Aid the first shot in mobile payments war – October 28, 2014
In one week, Apple Pay already No. 1; used more than all other mobile payment systems combined – October 28, 2014
Alibaba’s Jack Ma says open to working with Apple on Apple Pay – October 28, 2014
Tim Cook blasts CVS, Rite Aid over Apple Pay blockade: ‘You only are relevant if your customers love you’ – October 28, 2014
Seeking personal data, Walmart, Best Buy, and others won’t let shoppers enjoy Apple Pay privacy – October 27, 2014
Boycott CVS and Rite Aid – October 27, 2014
Bad business: CVS and Rite Aid antagonize their most well-heeled customers by blocking Apple Pay – October 27, 2014
CVS stores reportedly disabling NFC to shut down Apple Pay – October 25, 2014
iPhone users earn significantly more than those who settle for Android phones – October 8, 2014
Yet more proof that Android is for poor people – June 27, 2014
More proof that Android is for poor people – May 13, 2014
Apple’s iOS dominates in richer countries, Android in poorer regions – March 25, 2014
Twitter heat map shows iPhone use by the affluent, Android by the poor – June 20, 2013
iPhone users smarter, richer than Android phone users – August 16, 2011
Yankee Group: Apple iPhone owners shop more, buy more, remain more loyal vs. other device users – July 20, 2010
Make small purchases if there is a minimum charge. That’ll fix ’em.
that’s their whole point, these firms are simply trying to bypass paying banks a fee. While ApplePay is the most efficient and easy way to purchase, you’re still paying Mastercard and Visa a transaction fee, which blows donkey dongers.
Won’t work for me. I can’t step into a Walmart even if were the only immediate option.
Pesky Restraining order?
We plan to AMEX the ever-living crap out of any retailer we find that’s artificially blocking Apple Pay.
AMEX Blue Cash Baby ….. You betchya!
Artificially? I think you (and MDN) mean “intentionally”.
They’re really synonymous in this context.
I’d fill up a cart with junk and when you go to check out and they say they don’t accept Apple Pay then I’d just leave the cart and start walking out and on the way out tell your manager to start accepting Apple Pay.
Exactly, I was thinking to do the same. They are going to have carts and carts full with misplaced merchandise and they have to spend more men /women hours to place everything where they belong again.
Don’t forget to make sure the cart has a lot of perishables, with the lack of efficiency at most walmarts the spoilage alone may make them reconsider.
Also don’t abandon the transaction until the cashier is done ringing it and bagging it.
But in hindsight, none of this would matter, as Walmart is trying to save $9.5 Billion by not paying credit fees, a few thousand here and there is rounding error to them.
No, Walmart is trying to collect massive amounts of even more customer data. That’s far more valuable than saving a little on credit/debit card fees.
So your grand plan is to make the poor employee restock the shelves? The person who has no input whatsoever into what payment types the huge retailer accepts? Stupid.
If you don’t think managers are going to notice lines of shopping carts to be restocked and wonder why, then cashxx isn’t the stupid one. It may be the manager for not doing his job, but it isn’t cashxx. From the manager, it will climb the ladder.
OMG are you actually serious? Wow.
Yep. I know there are idiot managers out there who would ignore it, even fire the employee for taking too long to get the restocking done, but I hope that they are in the minority. One with any management skills would notice and pass it along.
Um. Ooookaaaay…
The restocking clerk will be paid to replace the products.
Employees get paid an hourly wage to do whatever needs to be done. It’s not hurting the employee at all.
Please leave the employees alone. It’s not their fault, and many of them aren’t happy about it either.
I was at CVS yesterday, the only CVS location that’s so convenient that going to a Walgreens isn’t really an option, and I mentioned to the lady at the checkout that I was upset that CVS had turned off the NFC at their registers. She didn’t even know about Apple Pay, but when I described it, she said “Oh, yeah! They hold their phone up and it goes beep! They turned that off? Why would they do that?”
——RM
That may work, but it’s bit dick to waste the cashier’s time like that. Maybe buy them a beer after work, to even it out?
It won’t be the cashier, but another employee who will do the restocking, and they will be paid to do it.
Would it not be much better to bring a full trolley to the till and once the don’t accept your payment tell them to keep it and do your shopping elsewhere?
Imagine all the time they waste on an action like that?
[quote]Would it not be much better to bring a full trolley to the till and once the don’t accept your payment tell them to keep it and do your shopping elsewhere?
Imagine all the time you waste on an action like that?[/quote]
Fixed that for ya.
I think a few others above had said the same thing (except they did it in American English… trolley… till…)
No, because then you’re just punishing the employees stuck working for the retailer. Very unlikely that form of protest will make it up to corporate HQ.
It only doesn’t work if the manager is an idiot. Otherwise, they see that employee “stuck” (doing the job he is paid for, so no biggie to him) restocking. A manager who doesn’t notice that should be fired. One who does notice would ask the employee what is going on, and it will make it to corporate HQ.
They get paid by the hour. There making the same whether they are restocking your stuff or cleaning up in aisle two.
Forget the credit cards, whip out a check… It costs the merchant more to process than a credit card and takes more of their time to process.
BTW the only reason we’re having this discussion is that processing costs for checks and cash are hidden where credit card swipe fees are easier to see.
True. It also takes time for you to write the check and for them to ‘verify’ it by you showing ID and holding up the check-out line all the while. 😀 The ‘visible’ side of a store processing checks.
True.. But there is an additional ‘visible’ side to check processing when you whip out your checkbook, write the check, whip out your ID for the cashier to ‘verify’ the check, and complete the transaction all while you hold up the checkout line and possibly create ill will.
It wastes too much of my time. Not going to happen.
But there are some places that don’t accept personal checks any longer. And then you have to carry a checkbook with you.
how are cash transactions hidden?
that is, “hidden costs” for cash transactions?
I dislike Amazon but still shop there so here is how I handle it ….
Make purchases just over their minimum FREE ship amount and I use my AMEX Card for all purchases as AMEX charges merchants the MOST FEES …..
With WalMart FallApart only if needed and try to use AMEX Card whenever possible, may not be accepted at WalMart don’t know I don’t shop,there and make multiple small purchases rather than large, if not a big hassle ….
Another idea is to write their customer service and complain!
Assuming you do as the article suggests. Why would they think you wouldn’t have registered those same cards on Apple Pay and used them there and in effect ‘punishing’ them for supporting Apple Pay?
Um … this sounds a wee bit counterproductive.
Pay in pennies!
Nickels and Dimes. Pennies can legally be rejected after a 100 are presented. Try eating at a Restaurant in Omaha, they refuse to accept cash!
People: if your Apple Pay is linked to a Visa, Master Card, or (shriek!) AmEx cards, the stores STILL have to pay those fees- so they’re not really losing anything if you use your real credit card or your Apple Pay. But if they can persuade you to use their system, they will save money.
That said, they’re idiots. Instead of using a stick (aka censorship), they should just make CurrenC have such great rewards that you would WANT to use it over other options (that’s called using the carrot).
Clearly they are doomed to lose all future iPhone users if they keep this up. They probably think that, at the very least, the obliviots will use their system and, to be honest, they’re probably right. After all, not everyone has an iPhone 6/Plus or Apple Watch- the rest of the masses are probably too stupid to know the difference and will use their system. Yes, they’ll lose a few of us who know better- but they’re system probably will save them money in the end (even if those of us with brains don’t shop there)…
I find it hard to believe that people will be OK with giving a store (and perhaps crooked employees) a direct pipeline to their checking account. And, if part of the reason for creating their own system is to avoid paying credit card fees then that implies that they will not only not accept Apple Pay, but no credit cards either. I don’t think customers will stand for that.
I can tell this board is full of liberals because of the immature idiotic ideas that proliferate here. Sure, let’s run up the cost of doing business. What does that get you? Higher prices and wasting your own time.
Idiots.
Why would we not support a business that wants to lower it’s costs? Why are we so happy paying Apple 0.15%? Are you guys so rich that you don’t know what to do with your money? Why don’t you guys donate it to the government, instead?
You are so immature that you think the credit cards are paying Apple the 0.15%? Really? The cost of doing business comes out of the consumers hide. That’s reality. All those reward points for using AMEX? Who do you think pays that? You do!
idiots!
So much for public education. Actually, I take back the liberal slam. Republicans go through the same public school system and are just as dumb.
Liberals and Republicans? You assume that all Republicans are conservative. Both parties have liberal and conservative sides. The event of labeling liberals as Democrats and conservatives as Republicans is a recent event due to the press narrowing the terms. I actually learned that in a public school.
And what do you make of yourself preferring to give the retailers your personal/financial info in an unsecure manner rather than having the most high tech way of protecting your identity and financial info available? It isn’t all about money on our side. It is on their side. That’s why the methods might help.
Whats the difference between retailers having my personal info and the government having my personal info? Whats the big deal? They already got it anyhow. This is how immature and naive this whole group is.
How stupid is society? Example, I just did an absentee/mail-in ballot. To get my vote to count I had to sign it on the outside of the envelop. On the outside is my full name and address. Talk about identity stupidity and that is from our government.
Even with ApplePay, the credit card companies have all your buying history. Whoops! guess who’s data was just stolen or will be hacked next? You think the credit card companies are immune? Another naive belief.
So let’s make sure the retailer’s cost of doing business is 3-4% higher so I can pay 3-4% or more for food and clothing.
Just brilliant.
BTW, for those that can’t read, in my original post I slammed the education system, not liberals or Republicans. And for those that can’t think, another result of our public education system, I did not equate Conservatives to Repulicans nor liberals to Democrats. An obvious characteristic of mindless and over-emotional, pot-smoking humanoids.
So who died and made you Elvis, jackass?
I dont shop at walmart out of principles. Although, even without my own intention i couldnt shop there since most of their things are junk.
The irony. Stores full of US flags and dont do business in the US because they have to extract every 100th of a cent on each transaction from their suppliers. And no, it doesnt save the consumers any money when you have to buy three walmart shirts for everyone you buy in other, better quality merchandise, stores.
Yes, WalMart makes less than 3% profit on their worldwide sales.
Those bastards!
I see why you are boycotting them. The junk they sell, like iPhones and iPads and such.
I kinda feel like Apple and Apple Pay will be just fine without this kind of “help” you want to give them.
I received the following to my email to RiteAid:
“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. Have a nice day, and thank you for choosing Rite Aid!
Chelsea Ralls
Rite Aid Customer Care”
If that statement is remotely true, then they should drop out of CurrentC immediately because that is not secure (evidenced by the hack just this week!) nor does it meet my needs.
Just simly don’t make your purchases in those stores. It is not necessary to help American Express make more profit. It is not necessary to waste your time loading up a cart and leaving it at the front. it is not necessary to burden the employees. Just simply don’t shop there and go to the competitors instead. This is what they will pay attention to.
While I am very disappointed with Discover for not supporting Apple Pay, I guess there will be a use for my Discover card at these other merchants.
Discover card up until Apple Pay use to be my “Goto” card. Now it’s my Chase Visa Card/
I still find it more effective to just leave all the items at the counter and force the employees to put it all back, if they get enough of that they’ll complain to higher chains within the company.
What you really should do is find something that costs under a dollar, like a cheap candy bar that’s already at the checkout, and buy that with an Amex, then do the same thing over and over for the next 2 hours. Would be even better if it costs less than the actual fee, so they actually have to not only lose profit but it becomes a negative transaction and they actually lose money by selling it.
Too much time on your hands.
Just don’t shop at the places.
http://wh.gov/icBmj
This all sounds so petty on all sides, like a religious war. MacDonalds, Walmart, RiteAid and Amazon go for high-volume, low-income shoppers. If they think refusing ApplePay is a way to increase profits, let them do so. If you think the exhausting and tiring effort of finding your American Express card and (I’m tired just thinking about it) swiping it (I’m pooped now!) and then collapsing from exhaustion because you have to sign something, well, all that instead of two taps on a phone? You won’t have to boycott these stores, you won’t go there anymore because it will wear you out!!!!
PLEDGE!
Please click on pledge “Boycott anti-consumer anti-ApplePay Retailer trend” at Causes.com since Tue Oct 28’14 – expires Dec27! Please pledge and spread the word ; ) The more voices, the more we can pressure Retailer attitude!
After all, it is OUR Money and WE should command HOW we PAY!
https://www.causes.com/campaigns/85331-boycott-anti-consumer-anti-applepay-retailer-trend
Or you can just get over it and pay the way you always paid before last week. Technology can make such crybabies out of people sometimes
Jeez, some people must have a lot of spare brain cells to concoct all these nefarious ways to strike back at stores that don’t accept ApplePay.
Me – I’m too busy actually living a life to get caught up in crap like this.