“The decision by CVS Health Corp. and Rite Aid Corp. to block Apple Inc.’s mobile-payment technology presages a long fight over the fees and customer data collected when people use smartphones to buy stuff,” Craig Giammona reports for Bloomberg. “Along with companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co., which have said they won’t use Apple Pay, the pharmacy chains are holding out for a retailer-developed mobile-payment system known as CurrentC that’s slated to debut next year.”
“Their aim is to help retailers avoid credit-card transaction fees while giving them more sway over customer-reward programs,” Giammona reports. “On the other side are technology companies such as Apple, which have developed their own platforms and are keeping their transaction data anonymous. The stakes will only rise in coming years if, as predicted, Apple Pay gains acceptance by the increasing number of iPhone users.”
“Apple said the feedback it’s gotten on its new payment system from customers and retailers has been ‘overwhelmingly positive,'” Giammona reports. “‘We are working to get as many merchants as possible to support this convenient, secure and private payment option for consumers,’ said Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for the Cupertino, California-based company. ‘Many retailers have already seen the benefits and are delighting their customers at over 220,000 locations.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: In just one week, Apple Pay has already facilitated more transactions than all other ‘contact less’ payment methods combined! (Which shows how much of an epic faceplant Google Wallet has been; released over three years ago on September 19, 2011.)
Boycott CVS and Rite Aid and any other company that willfully turns off NFC in a effort to block the vastly more secure, much more private, and far easier-to-use Apple Pay service.
• Email complaints to CVS Customer Relations here.
• Email complaints to Rite Aid Customer Relations here.
Related articles:
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
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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
