CVS and Rite Aid Officially Disable Apple Pay Support At Stores Nationwide

[nikicampos]

This companies are dumb, investing in MCX and how it works, they are canceling the payment options from Apple and Google, yet, they are basing their payment as an app in Apple and Google stores.

Not that they will need to, CurrentC it's dead before arrival, but don't they know that Apple and Google can pull the app from their stores and just state that "CurrentC is not secure enough and it's been pull because of security reasons and we are protecting are customers."

Is that easy, dumb move.

 

[Arran]

Ok, when just about every major retailers gets together and conspires to take a joint action, that is intended to create a one and only mobile payment system, and their membership includes a requirement that members not accept ANY OTHER system in their stores, so as to prevent any other system for ever getting traction and being able to compete with the proposed system, what would you call that?

I'd say they've run out of retailing ideas. Lost their way.

Rather than invest in the art of retailing, getting back to basics and wow-ing their customers with products and services, they're just letting their companies be led into the desert by a bunch of myopic accountants. Quite sad, really.

 

[bfh123]

It's going to be fun watching Walgreen's stock this morning. I'd hate to be leveraged with CVS.

 

[Rogifan]

I'm surprised that Visa/MC/Amex don't have something in their T&C's requiring merchants to accept all forms of their cards that they have the technology to accept. And maybe even a clause requiring them to prefer the most secure protocol they can take.

For instance after I got my new chipped Corporate Card and used it at my local Wal-Mart, I swiped it but a message on the terminal required me to insert the chip instead. Was that Wal-Mart's policy or Visa's that required that? Wouldn't the credit card companies also want the retailers to use their NFC terminals if they have them? Also weren't most of the terminals marked with PayWave or PayPass symbols of Visa & MC? I would think that maybe the credit card companies would assert that they had subsided the installation of the terminals in exchange for displaying the logos and accepting NFC. ApplePay is just another form of using their cards and the card companies have all signed on with Apple.

Perhaps that's what the MasterCard spokesman meant in the NYT article when he said he "looked forward" to the functionality being turned back on.

I'd love it if MC, Visa and Amex told large retailers if you accept our cards you have to accept them in any form. I'm not sure if they can mandate how their cards are accepted though. What's the difference to a retailer if I take out a piece of plastic and swipe it or hold my phone up to the terminal?

 

[BruiserB]

But Target is part of MXC/CurrentC... Why haven't they turned off their NFC devices?

They've never turned them on to my knowledge.

 

[samcraig]

The collusion is on mobile payments not credit card payments. MCX is anti credit card.

Where is the loss of income or detriment? Again - these stores still allow CC transactions. And as of current - they (retailers) have no competing product in play.

 

[Rogifan]

Better management. Target (like Home Depot, Dairy Queen, Staples etc.) had a recent huge security issue with customers credit card data (end of last year - who wants retailers to get access to your checking acounts with CurrentC?) and don't want to piss them off further (so far, their management isn't so shortsighted as CVS/Wrong Aid) and loose more sales.

I will reward Target for as long as their management allows customers to pay how they like (i.e. NFC).

Until MCX forces Target to shut it off.

 

[tdar]

Here's my question...if retailers accept credit cards how can they not accept Pay or Google Wallet? I can understand with small businesses where implementing NFC capable terminals could be very expensive. But if CVS accepts Visa and my Visa card is now my phone instead of a little piece of plastic how do these big retailers get away with not accepting it? Because they're not shutting off credit cards. They're shutting off contactless payments.

You have answered your own question. If they were disabling NFC in a vacuum, because say they decided they did not want to have to do the support work that required on their terminals, then they could "get away" with that. But that's not what they are doing. They are disabling NFC as part of their membership of a group who's conspiring to create a one and only mobile payment system. This group is anti credit card, simply because they do not want to pay the fees to process the transactions.

 

[caesarp]

It's going to take a year or two for all this to shake out. MCX has a slight advantage it's consumer end doesn't require the newest tech.

Not at all. MCX is a clunky product that uses easily hacked QR codes and works by using ACH to tie directly into your bank account. Further, to use MCX you must:

1. wake phone
2. open app
3. enter passcode
4. scan or "show" QR code
5. know that your personal data is being shared and used and abused by the merchant and its partners

To use Apple Pay:

1. hold phone up to NFC while at the same time holding finger over touchID button (ta dah -- all done).
2. know that your personal data is not shared with the merchant.

Now which do you think the masses will like better again? What advantage does MCX have?

 

[bluespark]

And the stores said they are evaluating their options which is exactly what they should do, considering the costs involved.

Might want to read up on this. There are no costs to them where the readers were installed and operational. CVS had already decided to take contactless payments before they decided to play favorites.

 

[Sasparilla]

Folks,

In addition to sending your complaints to Rite-Aid and CVS corporate by email, you should email AskDOJ@usdoj.gov.

You should request an investigation into Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) which describes itself as "the first merchant-owned mobile commerce network".

According to Wikipedia:



MCX is co-owned by competing merchants with the objective of reducing the cost of transactions for all merchants. In an fair market economy banks and credit card service providers would have a fair chance of offering their services to each merchant individually. However, since these supposedly "competing" merchants are co-owners of MCX, they are acting in collusion to snuff out the banks and credit card providers (and in turn Apple Pay and Google Wallet).

It is one thing for Target to offer the "Red Card", but CurrentC is a cross-merchant "Red Card". It is one thing for Wal-Mart to have its own fleet of trucks, but if merchants got together to create a trucking service for common use in order to snuff out independent trucking services to reduce costs then they would be guilty of collusion.

Send an email to the DOJ and request an investigation of Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX). The actions of Rite-Aid and CVS (two competing entities) to actually incur costs to refuse a form of payment that they were already accepting in order to promote a yet unreleased mobile payment solution for which they are co-owners is highly suspicious and warrants an investigation into MCX. US citizens have the right to request an investigation from the DOJ to determine if indeed illegal anti-competitive practices are going on here.

An investigation will reveal if Rite-Aid and CVS were acting independently versus colluding. But the fact that they are co-owners in MCX and the fact that both reference "CurrentC" in their internal memos regarding deactivation of NFC payments, then it would seem that the proof of collusion is fairly strong with MCX acting as the intermediary enabling the collusion (in a much stronger way than Apple acted as intermediary for the publishers to fix eBook prices since MCX is an actual formal corporation owned by the merchants).

Excellent idea, will make it a to do.

 

[Glideslope]

Walgreens

Buy the stock today!!! If you own Rite-Aid or CVS sell.

 

[BornAgainMac]

I would like liked to see what Steve would have said about this move.

 

[caesarp]

Is Apple negotiating with MCX right now ??

That's my guess. Why else would Apple say no comment to questions about this story. I'm guessing that behind the scenes they are trying to negotiate with MCX, asking it to relieve its consortium retailers from any contractual obligations to only use one mobile payment method OR, Apple will remove the CurrentC app from the App store.

The only question I have is, can Apple remove an App from the App store in retaliation?

 

[Rogifan]

Where is the loss of income or detriment? Again - these stores still allow CC transactions. And as of current - they (retailers) have no competing product in play.

If they allow CC transactions then it shouldn't matter what form my credit card i
comes in. What's the difference to retailers if I swipe a plastic card or hold my phone next to the payment terminal. At the end of the day it's still charging my credit card. The fact is MCX is anti-credit card and they don't want consumers to get used to slick solutions like Pay or Google Wallet that utilize credit cards.

 

[BruiserB]

I'd love it if MC, Visa and Amex told large retailers if you accept our cards you have to accept them in any form. I'm not sure if they can mandate how their cards are accepted though. What's the difference to a retailer if I take out a piece of plastic and swipe it or hold my phone up to the terminal?

The card companies can claim they have given marketing to the retailers. For instance the MasterCard Nearby app lists retailers that take NFC.

MasterCard Nearby by MasterCard
https://appsto.re/us/uQhyU.i

In exchange for this marketing, I'll bet the stores are obliged to offer the payment method.

 

[blue rocket]

nearly any place there is a CVS there is a Walgreens a few minutes away, IMO Walgreens has become a better pharmacy / convenience store anyway.

CVS will change their tune when they report earnings next quarter and it's down... i'm not sure they see the impact Apple has on the world.

I really wonder how that meeting went internally to make that decision... heh.

I can't believe RiteAid is even still in business, won't be long now until they fold.

 

[teslo]

I would like liked to see what Steve would have said about this move.

lord, why?? apple is and always has been a company, not a man.

 

[xdhd350]

And the stores said they are evaluating their options which is exactly what they should do, considering the costs involved.

Evaluating their options? It's not as if they were thinking about installing NFC terminals to accept Apple Pay and others. They have a working system in place that was working just fine with Apple Pay, until they intentionally and deliberately shut it off. They had no problem with accepting NFC payment via a credit card, Google Wallet, et al until Apple Pay came along.

Costs? There is no cost. They already have the equipment in place and it was working fine.. until they SHUT IT OFF. There is no extra financial burden on the merchant to accept Apple Pay. Apple takes a small percentage from the bank that issues the card.

 

[BruiserB]

That's my guess. Why else would Apple say no comment to questions about this story. I'm guessing that behind the scenes they are trying to negotiate with MCX, asking it to relieve its consortium retailers from any contractual obligations to only use one mobile payment method OR, Apple will remove the CurrentC app from the App store.



The only question I have is, can Apple remove an App from the App store in retaliation?

They could remove it due the the extraordinarily low ratings it is getting and claim they are protecting their customers.

 

[Sasparilla]

This companies are dumb, investing in MCX and how it works, they are canceling the payment options from Apple and Google, yet, they are basing their payment as an app in Apple and Google stores.

Not that they will need to, CurrentC it's dead before arrival, but don't they know that Apple and Google can pull the app from their stores and just state that "CurrentC is not secure enough and it's been pull because of security reasons and we are protecting are customers."

Is that easy, dumb move.

Put so well...CurrentC is doa, just because of this...

 

[Number-Six]

I'd love to meet these people.

Uh, you live in NYC. Go to any grocery store in the Bronx, it shouldn't take much more than 10 minutes before you spot one

 

[RickInHouston]

I've moved my prescriptions to Walgreens. Now instead of making a left, I make a right. They are 230 ft apart in my town.

That is, until Walgreen's follows suit in about 2 to 3 months after they have captured the VERY FEW disgruntled apple pay fans that came over from CVS and RiteAid.

 

[stewy]

I would like liked to see what Steve would have said about this move.

probably would have went thermonuclear war on their asses.

 

[bit_bucket]

Sorry just to clarify with the chip and pin cards. While NFC payments are based on EMV (the same standard as chip and PIN) and while many EU and Aussie/NZ EMV cards are contactless (For low value, no cardholder verification transactions) as well, they all still have contact chips (ones which is inserted and used for chip and pin/signature transactions). So by turning off NFC they haven't stopped these cards being used. These cards also have magnetic stripes as well.

Thanks for the clarification. Sorry my assumptions were based on seeing the cards which done have the mag strip (the minority of cards). While I can't speak for you, I think I would prefer to use the EMV over the 80's VCR tape strip.