Apple Responds to CVS/Rite Aid Controversy: 'Overwhelmingly Positive' Response, Working to Add Merchants

[rwilliams]

I'd like to think that most iPhone owners wouldn't be seen dead at Walmart, but the weird thing about poverty is that you'll find those who can barely feed their kids who still find a way to have a new phone.

It never ceases to amaze me that there are functioning adults who still believe that having an iPhone is somehow a sign of wealth or affluence.

 

[Waughy]

Forget those US retailers Apple, bring Apple Pay to Australia now. Businesses here won't pull that sort of crap, NFC readers are everywhere.

 

[spectrumfox]

Funny, I would have thought most iPhone users wouldn't be seen dead smoking a cigarette.

I guess we're both ignorant

What does this even mean? What do iPhones and cigarettes have to do with one another?

Please explain it to the class.

 

[Keirasplace]

Funny, I would have thought most iPhone users wouldn't be seen dead smoking a cigarette.

I guess we're both ignorant

Californians are way above average Iphone users and have a very low smoking rate... So you may be right.

 

[superliu]

I am in Canada and can't wait till Apple Pay is available here.

I personally don't shop at Walmart, Old Navy, Target, 7 Eleven and Best Buy. Most tech savvy people won't shop at those places.

Apple should target all the high, and mid-end retailers, forget Walmart.

 

[LordVic]

Forget those US retailers Apple, bring Apple Pay to Australia now. Businesses here won't pull that sort of crap, NFC readers are everywhere.

Same sentinment in Canada.

NFC terminals are everywhere. From gas stations to grocery, to even high end shopping boutiques. basically, anyone who has put a Credit Card/ Debit terminal in their shop in the last 5 years will have NFC capable device. (heck, even bars/restaraunts have NFC capable portable devices to bring to the table)

However, there is only 1 bank I know of that has a NFC pay app. Google Wallet is not available. Apple Pay is not available.

WHY ARE THEY WAITING! you want to get mass adoption, HIT THE MARKETS THAT ARE TECHNOLOGICALLY READY FOR IT!

 

[Jeremy1026]

What doesn't make sense, is the amount of time it would take to ring out one CurrentC customer, you could probably ring out two Apple Pay customers depending on how many items they had. Over the course of a day, that ends up being a ton of possible income lost because of how long that payment system takes. I mean obviously there are a ton of variables like how not everybody will use Apple Pay or CurrentC. It seems like way too much work just to save 2% on CC fees.

Anyway, I can't wait to see what happens over the next year. Should be really interesting...

You're missing one very important detail. Its only lost revenue if people are leaving because the line is too long. Typically the line at the cashier is maybe 3 people long at any of these stores (except WalMart, which has its own circle of hell). People aren't leaving the store without making the purchases now, and they aren't likely to start once CurrentC begins to roll out.

 

[LordVic]

Data mining is why Walmart and several others are against Apple. They want to be able to data mine and Apple removes that ability per transaction.

That makes sense. Give props to Apple for not supporting that then.

 

[caesarp]

The elephant in the room . . .

Did anyone ask Apple if they will continue to allow the CurrentC app to be downloaded from the app store? If so, why?

And if this question was not asked, why not?

 

[AdonisSMU]

It seems highly unlikely that the retailers are designing the system to compete with ApplePay, but rather are designing it to remove credit card issuers as the middlemen in the payments. This may seem like long ago, but people used to pay for goods with cash and checks, with credit cards a distant third. That situation has been reversed, with credit cards now well in the lead, and retailers no longer want to pay anywhere from 1-1/2% to 3-1/2% or more to card issuers for handling payments, preferring to either keep some of that to lower prices or raise profits. When you compare the cost of a credit card transaction to the cost of ACH ($2.50 per transaction per $100 to as low as $0.05 per transaction fixed ), you can see why retailers want to cut out credit card companies from the transaction.

While it is ungainly what the retailers are planning, Apple jumped into bed with the card companies, probably because it pays the lowest rate on its card transactions already, so the retailers are left trying to reclaim their position in payments that they had long ago ceded. Personally, while ApplePay seems very convenient, I would much rather not be paying banks and other card issuers their discount fee for my purchases. I just wish that the retail community had the backing of a company like Apple to do their work for them to achieve a more elegant solution.

The CC companies are held to higher standards of fraud protection than and that is why there is a fee. Merchants will charge as much as they can while paying out as little as they can to suppliers and employees. That is the way business works. There is no incentive to pass any savings on to the customer.

 

[spectrumfox]

Did anyone ask Apple if they will continue to allow the CurrentC app to be downloaded from the app store? If so, why?

And if this question was not asked, why not?

I don't think Apple is as vengeful as some people are here on the forums...

 

[Col Vandal]

If Apple disallows the app from the Apple store and Google does the same at the Play store, wouldn't that mean the whole Current C thing would be DOA?

So I don't understand why the merchants would poke such a huge hornet's nest. I mean, really? You want to provoke Apple and Google? That's just suicide in this day and age.

 

[Mascots]

Android and iOS users on reddit have also teamed up to call for a boycott on all MCX partners, as disabling NFC support to prevent Apple Pay purchases also disables Android-based payment solutions like Google Wallet.

It takes a common enemy to unite both sides of the fence.

 

[TWSS37]

One doesn't exclude the other. Though I don't go to Walmart because they suck in general mo matter what other factors are involved. Not saving 1% (these days, they're not really more inexpensive) and enduring such an abysmal lifeless place; I'm not that desperate.

I am unsure what you mean, that one doesn't exclude the other. Either you boycott them for one reason or you don't. So are you saying you're 50% boycott for their employee treatment and 50% for NFC? So if they took NFC, you'd be willing to shop there at least 50% of the time?

This whole thread, much like all the ones before it on this issue, comes down to one thing. Entitlement. What happened to all the "rage" about Apple not including NFC until 2014? By that logic, *APPLE* has been denying you NFC based payments for YEARS now - who is, or has, boycotted Apple? Hypocrisy.

 

[AustinIllini]

I don't think Apple is as vengeful as some people are here on the forums...

There is also something to be said for the PR of cutting your enemies off like that. Apple will likely win either way.

 

[Michael Scrip]

The retailers don't want to pay the 2%-3% charge to the credit card companies.

So how many retailers have stopped accepting credit cards?

Hell... even small mom-n-pop shops are taking credit cards with Square or something.

Look I get it... accepting credit cards can incur some extra fees. But that's the cost of doing business today.

 

[spectrumfox]

If Apple disallows the app from the Apple store and Google does the same at the Play store, wouldn't that mean the whole Current C thing would be DOA?

So I don't understand why the merchants would poke such a huge hornet's nest. I mean, really? You want to provoke Apple and Google? That's just suicide in this day and age.

It's ridiculous to think Apple or Google would remove the app from their respective stores. Why would they do that? That would be childish behavior.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Funny, I would have thought most iPhone users wouldn't be seen dead smoking a cigarette.

I guess we're both ignorant

I know I won't.

 

[MrX8503]

What boggles my mind is that merchants have to pay $500,000 and enter into a 3yr(?) agreement under CurrentC.

 

[Quahog]

I still don't get the difference between high profile "partners" who have "signed up to Apple Pay", and any old retailer who accepts NFC payments. Surely there's no difference; is it just Apple marketing spin?

Its still regular NFC between the phone and the POS terminal. Being a retail partner just comes down to marketing.

Since tokens are used, the partner BANKS do matter, you can't set it up if your bank isn't supported.

 

[iapplelove]

I don't think Apple is as vengeful as some people are here on the forums...

It would just be petty imo to ban the app. However on the flip side retailers are banning Apple pay.

 

[AdonisSMU]

It's ridiculous to think Apple or Google would remove the app from their respective stores. Why would they do that? That would be childish behavior.

Or maybe hmmm get the EU to chime in and block CurrentC from use in the EU. It's already dead on arrival in China.

 

[AustinIllini]

It takes a common enemy to unite both sides of the fence.

"Both sides of the fence" is 94% of smartphone owners. That's really impressive. For this reason, I believe NFC will win out.

 

[michael31986]

Ugh even target is jumping on this current c thing. Ugh.

 

[roland.g]

It seems highly unlikely that the retailers are designing the system to compete with ApplePay, but rather are designing it to remove credit card issuers as the middlemen in the payments. This may seem like long ago, but people used to pay for goods with cash and checks, with credit cards a distant third. That situation has been reversed, with credit cards now well in the lead, and retailers no longer want to pay anywhere from 1-1/2% to 3-1/2% or more to card issuers for handling payments, preferring to either keep some of that to lower prices or raise profits. When you compare the cost of a credit card transaction to the cost of ACH ($2.50 per transaction per $100 to as low as $0.05 per transaction fixed ), you can see why retailers want to cut out credit card companies from the transaction.

While it is ungainly what the retailers are planning, Apple jumped into bed with the card companies, probably because it pays the lowest rate on its card transactions already, so the retailers are left trying to reclaim their position in payments that they had long ago ceded. Personally, while ApplePay seems very convenient, I would much rather not be paying banks and other card issuers their discount fee for my purchases. I just wish that the retail community had the backing of a company like Apple to do their work for them to achieve a more elegant solution.

Debit is a safer system (when using chip and pin) and its less expensive than credit for any transaction over $10; for a $100 transaction, its 0.2%! Why don't they promote debit transactions from $10+ sales then if its only to stick in to the CC companies.

Credit cards won't go away. People want digital payments, they don't want to always carry cash. That's a large part of where payments have evolved to. You want to turn it to ACH / Debit as a way to sidestep CC companies. You somehow don't think CC companies should actually make money. CC companies make money in two ways: from merchant fees and from interest on unpaid balances. They also take risk on the issuing of credit and the potential default on balances which we know happens every day.

Another reason CC cards won't go away is that people like to spend money they don't have yet, and might not have for some time. ACH and Debit requires you to have the funds. In the U.S., we are increasingly a nation of debt. iPhone, Xbox, PS4, etc. Ring it up today, pay for it ....when?

It is possible that over time Apple could partner with banks to expand Apple Pay to use Debit cards. However, this would be far more likely for larger institutions like Wells Fargo, Bank of America, as your local regional bank where you have a checking account and Debit card are probably not going to be as easily able to sign up for Apple Pay Debit or as easily motivated to do so.