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CVS Launches Barcode-Based 'CVS Pay' in Lieu of Apple Pay

rjohnstone said:
Any merchant that offers a loyalty card is harvesting your data.
You can chose to participate in their program or not. I chose to not have one.
I use CVS because of their location. Their prices on Rx are no different than Walgreens, so I fail to see the point in wasting the gas.
They still take regular credit cards (swipe and chip), so it is what it is.
I couldn't care less if they take Apple Pay or Android Pay or any other wallet.
I don't save any money using them.
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Thats fine. The point is they are harvesting your data with out you even knowing it even if you don't use the loyalty card. They track you by your CC number every time you swipe. This is then sold if you ever have a identifying item.

So my point is for you fine use the loyalty card and pay with a swipe.

I have zero trust in them keeping that data secure. They have proven they have no skill in this area.

I have never had my CC stolen from apples server
 
dontwalkhand said:
Apple Pay works at CVS anyway. This point is moot now! They turned it back on without announcing it. Nobody will bother with the app now!
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As far as I know it only works with AmEx, so I don't really consider that "enabled". Plus my local CVS has at least one terminal without the external reader on top which makes me think that they might not truly bother enabling it for all other cards.
 
It sounds like CVS executives don't want to give up any of their profits to apple. Remember its all about the money that the executives can gather for their company that will then be used to justify the bonus they take home for themselves. Its not about convenience or simplicity for a hand full of customers.

On the other-hand the executives cared enough about their customers (and marketing strategy) to stop selling high-profit poison delivered in little white tubes.
 
KdParker said:
Cash is King?
I don't know anyone that really carries cash anymore.
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I've been using cash with no issues for almost everything for roughly 10 years (I no longer have any credit cards, just debit cards). Why? Example 1: I'm able to negotiate better prices by paying with cash. When the salesperson says something costs $1,192.00, I pull out 9, $100 bills and "negotiate". I more often than not can get the price reduced. If not, I go somewhere else and I get a deal. Some merchant somewhere will make a deal. I've never been able to effectively do that with a credit card. Example 2: Studies have shown that people spend roughly 18% more when using a credit card vs. cash. I still use a debit card at the gas pump and for online purchases. BTW - I've never had anyone turn down cash. Maybe some do but I've not run into anyone. In my NTBH opinion, cash is king. So, better prices, spending less and I can do anything with cash (and occasionally my debit card) except go into debt. ...and before someone asks, yes I can rent cars and fly any airline with my debit card.

All that being said, isn't the discussion about ApplePay ;-)
 
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MacRumors said:



Apple Pay holdout CVS today introduced CVS Pay, a new barcode-based mobile payment solution that integrates payment, prescription pickup, and its ExtraCare loyalty program into a single scan at checkout. CVS Pay is built into the newly updated CVS Pharmacy app for iOS and Android devices.

CVS-Pay.jpg

CVS Pay works with all major U.S. credit cards, including MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express, in addition to debit, Health Savings Account, and Flexible Spending Account cards. All verifications for prescriptions and payment like a signature or PIN occur within the CVS Pharmacy app.

After adding their credit or debit cards to the app, customers can show the store associate a barcode, or pickup number at drive-thru locations, to initiate payment. The associate will scan the barcode, ring up the purchases, let the customer choose a stored payment method, and then process the payment.

CVS-Pay-screenshot.jpg

CVS Pay is the pharmacy chain's first official mobile payments solution. CVS officially disabled Apple Pay shortly following its U.S. launch, prompting a response from Apple and even a potential class action lawsuit. At the time, CVS was committed to MCX and its indefinitely postponed payments solution CurrentC.

CVS Pay launches today in select markets, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, and a nationwide rollout to its over 9,600 pharmacy locations in the U.S. is expected to begin later this year. CVS Pharmacy is free on the App Store [Direct Link] for iPhone, with a companion Apple Watch app available.

Top Image: CVS Health via Fortune

Article Link: CVS Launches Barcode-Based 'CVS Pay' in Lieu of Apple Pay
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I mean, I guess. I'll never use it but you know good for them.
 
tmiw said:
For one thing, retailers hate that people have credit cards at all and would rather we all use cash--or debit cards if they absolutely must. They're not going to enable something that might cause more people to use cards. In fact, chip cards work in their favor because they're frustrating enough that people are switching back to cash.
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Many retail executives do not necessarily want customers to all use cash. Think it through. Cash requires extra security procedures at every register and every store. It would require extra trips from the armored truck that eats into their profits. It increases the likelihood of robbery that could result in harm to their employees that become a cost liability. Insurance for having larger amounts of cash also increase because of the increased chance of robbery. Additional manual accounting is required by managers or book keepers to handle the cash for each cashiers shift. Accounting services and auditing will also increase to ensure safe and honest handling of the cash handled by the managers, book keepers and armored services. Customers spend more if they are not limited to the cash in their pockets.
 
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These types of payment apps are what's gonna prevent mobile payment solutions from growing, or maybe kill them entirely.

It's not *too* bad if you have just one clunky payment app. But it looks like these ApplePay holdout stores are all creating their own payment apps. Who wants a separate app for EVERY store they visit just to use a mobile payment? And it's not even a quicker or more convienient solution.

The more stores that follow suit with their own payment app, the less appealing they make it.
 
CrystalQuest76 said:
Many retail executives do not necessarily want customers to all use cash. Think it through. Cash requires extra security procedures at every register and every store. It would require extra trips from the armored truck that eats into their profits. It increases the likelihood of robbery that could result in harm to their employees that become a cost liability. Insurance for having larger amounts of cash also increase because of the increased chance of robbery. Additional manual accounting is required by managers or book keepers to handle the cash for each cashiers shift. Accounting services and auditing will also increase to ensure that the cash handled by the armored services will also increase. Customers spend more if they are not limited to the cash in their pockets.
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If you're large enough to need all that, I'd imagine you'd be in the "debit card" category I explained above. A lot of smaller businesses would still be a lot better off if everyone paid cash--or think so, anyway.
 
tmiw said:
Here is my utter lack of surprise. :rolleyes:

Let's face it, contactless support in the US will never be as good as elsewhere; the retail and card environment here basically discourages it. For one thing, retailers hate that people have credit cards at all and would rather we all use cash--or debit cards if they absolutely must. They're not going to enable something that might cause more people to use cards. In fact, chip cards work in their favor because they're frustrating enough that people are switching back to cash.
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This is a strange statement, given that this solution (as well as Walmart's system and others) supports credit cards according to the article.
Finally, there's the whole data collection aspect. Apple Pay requires opt-in and retailers really hate that. They'd rather have it opt-out because the vast majority of people never will. Hence these separate apps. (Selling the data to others also helps to negate some of the swipe fees.)
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True, although it should be mentioned that the banks also datamine our transactions if you use credit or debit cards, including with Apple Pay. They get less information about what exactly you buy though.
 
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CrystalQuest76 said:
It sounds like CVS executives don't want to give up any of their profits to apple. ...
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Wrong.

Apple doesn't take any money from merchants who accept  Pay.
Here's Apple's "About Apple Pay for merchants" web page:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204274

Excerpt:
"Are there additional fees to accept Apple Pay?
No. Apple doesn't charge any additional fees."

Apple charges banks per  Pay transaction. Not merchants.
Oh, and most banks have no problem accepting  Pay.
They'll gladly pay a few cents per transaction in exchange for better security.
Here's a list of banks that accept  Pay.
(Warning: TL;DR).

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204916
 
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Rigby said:
This is a strange statement, given that this solution (as well as Walmart's system and others) supports credit cards according to the article.
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As I mentioned above, the data mining makes up for the card fees, at least in part. (Smaller businesses, on the other hand, don't have the resources for data mining or making a separate payment app, so they'd still rather you'd pay in cash.)

Rigby said:
True, although it should be mentioned that the banks also datamine our transactions if you use credit or debit cards, including with Apple Pay. They get less information about what exactly you buy though.
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Depending on the store they can get quite a bit: https://www.bluepay.com/payment-processing/gateway/level-3/
[doublepost=1470941132][/doublepost]Oh, and another thing I forgot to mention -- a fair number of retailers who prefer debit basically would need to run Apple Pay transactions as credit (unless they want to give customers a bad experience by requiring a PIN). And they can't exactly only allow AP for credit cards either. Some places are okay with that caveat, while a fair number of others aren't. That's probably the biggest driver of Walmart not allowing it, for instance.
 
tmiw said:
As I mentioned above, the data mining makes up for the card fees, at least in part.
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Sure (like in any loyalty scheme), but what you said above ("They're not going to enable something that might cause more people to use cards") is obviously not the case here, since the CVS app fully supports credit cards, so saving cost on the transaction fees is obviously not their motivation.

And BTW, as far as prescriptions are concerned, they have your data anyway regardless of the payment method.
 
Wow... I really thought this sort of thing was a dead issue. I guess some marketing person at CVS needs to get canned. Silly. They would have been better off linking their loyalty card to ApplePay.
 
JTToft said:
- So then it isn't really a single scan, now is it?
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I think you may be confusing what the cashier does with what the customer has to do.
"The associate will scan the barcode, ring up the purchases, let the customer choose a stored payment method, and then process the payment."

I think you're also confusing the customer with CVS processes.
"... new barcode-based mobile payment solution that integrates payment, prescription pickup, and its ExtraCare loyalty program into a single scan at checkout."
The sentence is clunky but it's trying to convey that all those singular processes would be integrated into that one scan.
 
terrible... won't use it. they could enable NFC on their Verifone POS terminals at any time.

i tweeted this to them: @CVS_Extra. also wrote on their FaceBook wall.
 
hybroid said:
It's just a matter of time till they adopt Apple Pay.......
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Why not use "tap-n-go" or "pay wave" on your credit card, been using it for years, my card never leaves my wallet.

What you don't have it ????, Next you are going to tell me that you still use imperial measurements.
 
I think all these companies rolling out their own "Pay" (CVS, Walmart, whatever garbage Target is thinking up) options are going to end up doing more harm than good for the adoption of mobile payments at check out. No one wants to manage the pay option for every store they shop at. These companies should be investing in NFC terminals to allow Apple and Android pay and or better chip and pin terminals than the horrendously slow ones that are everywhere now.
[doublepost=1470944324][/doublepost]
StevieD100 said:
No it isn't. If you don't want 'the man' to track your every move and the ad slingers to know everything you buy then use cash.
I use Apple Pay to reduce my Card ( and thus the tracking) use but I actually buy more with cash these days than I did 5 years ago.
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It's actually easier and faster in a lot of places to pay with cash. Then all you have to do is hope you have a cashier that knows how to count when they're giving you your change. Haha
 
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