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CVS Stores Reportedly Disabling NFC to Shut Down Apple Pay and Google Wallet
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No I have not. Actually, I've never given my SSN except to a bank, in person. Actually, in Canada your SSN is something you should give to no one unless there is an absolute need (there is no other way the one asking can get your info). Most times they ask it even when it is not needed at all.
The fact that in the US it seems to be bandied around like nothing should be worrisome to you.
dontwalkhand
macrumors 604
In the US things are quite different then, however many things only require the last 4 digits of your SSN, not your whole number, mainly to attach a number to your name (how many John Smith's are there out there?) so Walmart would attach John Smith with last 4 #1244. Needing the whole number? Hell no MCX, youre not getting that from me.
bawbac
macrumors 65816
Is this when you walked out and made a purchase of the same items at a store that accepts AP to send a message to CVS?
eelpout
macrumors 6502
It does, but largely thanks to the U.S. healthcare industry's practice of using SS as an ID for decades (which I believe an attempt is being made to fix) and credit report use the way it is here, we are where we are. 🙁
Max(IT)
Suspended
It's their call.... They are going to lose customers for this silly choice.
AppleScruff1
macrumors G4
I guess the only important question is how many? Time will tell. If they support ApplePay in the future, that might be a good indicator that they lost enough business to concern them.
This just made it worse for CVS . . .
"MCX has been under scrutiny after reports suggested that MCX members CVS and Rite Aid disabled Apple Pay because of a contractual agreement for exclusivity. However, Davidson said that the company welcomes competition, and that it is the merchants choice whether or not to accept other forms of mobile payment. He added that MCX member retailers are not subject to fines if they choose to adopt Apple Pay, which registered 1 million credit cards in its first three days."
http://time.com/3546737/mcx-currentc-apple-pay-hack/
So CVS (and Rite Aid) turned off NFC, screwing over all NFC payment customers, despite ZERO ramifications for leaving it turned on.
Thanks CVS!
"MCX has been under scrutiny after reports suggested that MCX members CVS and Rite Aid disabled Apple Pay because of a contractual agreement for exclusivity. However, Davidson said that the company welcomes competition, and that it is the merchants choice whether or not to accept other forms of mobile payment. He added that MCX member retailers are not subject to fines if they choose to adopt Apple Pay, which registered 1 million credit cards in its first three days."
http://time.com/3546737/mcx-currentc-apple-pay-hack/
So CVS (and Rite Aid) turned off NFC, screwing over all NFC payment customers, despite ZERO ramifications for leaving it turned on.
Thanks CVS!
We don't know the reality behind it. We know that CurrentC has acknowledged they have a contract for exclusivity in mobile apps. Perhaps some merchants misinterpreted that. If so, we should see it turned back on quickly. I doubt it will be.
Perhaps more merchants have used internal pressure and the fact they can hide under CurrentC's umbrella as an excuse to turn it off. Remember, when Best Buy disabled their contactless terminals it was due to debit routing, not due to CurrentC.
I could imagine a strong-armed meeting along the lines of "well, we can't FORCE you to stop accepting contactless credit cards... but you should see how good it could be for your customer tracking... wait, did I say tracking? I meant... for your customer. Yeah that's it..."
Max(IT)
Suspended
That's my idea. I thing they are going to change their policy in a couple of years, when Apple pay enabled devices will be dozens of millions
rsocal
macrumors 6502a
Please clarify? Elaborate, please!
----------
Sorry, I've been jumping the gun the last couple of days!
Had foot surgery last Friday (Major) and I've been reading MR to the point of MR snow blind!
Maybe the pain meds.....?#
In all honesty the vast majority of cards issued in America that have a chip are Chip and Signature not Chip and PIN.
A true Chip and PIN has a six digit PIN, and is the type of card you can easily use all over the world. A Chip and Signature card has far less utility abroad, and is about useless on automated machines like you might see in a subway station or train station for example.
In any case, as a lover of technology and travel, I wish America would keep up with the rest of the world. Perhaps even start using the metric system like everyone else!
FireCapt
macrumors regular
That's a lot of speculation.
When you open a shop, handling the money is ALWAYS a cost of doing business. Banks charge fees, credit and debit card processing has a fee, each transaction has to be accounted for, taxes paid, books keep current. As a store you must price your products to pay for the overheads of all kinds, and still make something.
I find it hard to believe that Apple is pricing their system significantly higher than any of the existing systems.
In any case, here in America we are desperately in need of a new system. Our present credit card system is highly insecure. Just look at the terrible hacking scandals in the last year or two.
We also have fallen so far behind the rest of the world, traveling is substantially harder for Americans these days because other countries have moved to Chip and PIN setup for over a decade now.
And we lose money from tourists too. I was recently in O'Hare airport and they had actually put hand written signs on the credit card machines at the duty free shops warning foreign customers that Chip and PIN could not be accepted. That's tourists from 84 countries who will now not be able to shop at an American business because we are so far behind the times.
So no, I'm not going to cry tears for shops that refuse to move with the times. It's time to move away from writing checks and using plastic cards with VHS tape glued to them. Time to embrace the future, and figure out a way to make it work that is equitable for all concerned.
dontwalkhand
macrumors 604
Why wouldn't you take a Chip & PIN card? They work fine in all terminals, If the terminal prompts for the chip to be inserted, insert the chip. Your transaction fees don't change or anything. Same for Apple Pay. Sounds like the shop was just too lazy to hand the terminal over to the customer to type in the PIN
FireCapt
macrumors regular
Agree,
Beside, my Chase card has had the "chip" for the last 6 months now. so us is not that far behind on implimentation.😀
I always found that my friends in Germany and France were less willing to pay a premium for Apple's iPhone and would rather save money and get an Android device. Also they all seem to use Whatsapp while here everyone I know uses iMessage.
mojolicious
macrumors 68000
Northern Europeans: doughty burghers who aren't in the least bit swayed by Apple's brand and marketing, but instead buy the tool best suited to their needs following a careful cost/benefit analysis. The money they saved is then immediately invested in Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft and AXA shares.
Southern Europeans: swarthy lotharios with pastel knitwear and expensive loafers, who would love to buy more iPhones but their national economies have been drifting down shît creek without a paddle since at least 2008 and are therefore condemned to less expensive devices.
Britons: Oooh, shiny! Time for another payday loan!
Re iMessage/Whatsapp, following my two teenage daughters' lead I tend to:
a) iMessage individual known iPhone users
b) Whatsapp rather than iMessage individual known Android users (Whatsapp is *that* universal)
c) Whatsapp any group messages, regardless of who's using what
I have a different interpretation of what was said. While he said that retailers are not subject to fines if they choose to adopt ApplePay, this can be quite consistent with the MCX exclusivity in the contract because retailers are also not subject to fines if they choose to leave the MCX group. His words leave open the possibility of effectively kicking out retailers which do adopt alternatives.
In other words, sure, retailers can adopt an alternative payment system and not be fined, but they will no longer be part of MCX.
Is this contradicted by something I've overlooked?
Cheers, A.
Wrong. Read carefully. They don't prevent anyone from taking Apple Pay and they don't fine them. Nothing is said about making them leave. In hit every long threads there are statements form MCX saying their members are free to leave with no penalty other than fees already paid but that they do have a CurrentC exclusivity agreement. It does look like MCX is under pressure to change. I suspect they are more worried about antitrust than the customers.
Their terminals probably do support chip but they don't have a customer facing PIN pad and they don't want to hand them the terminal for entry. I'm finding that that's happening more often than I'd like.
dontwalkhand
macrumors 604
That's where 1-800-MASTERC, and 1-800-VISA911 comes in. I just got a new Wells Fargo merchant account for my business, and yes we can take NFC for Apple pay, and chip & PIN. BUT one of the rules is when that PIN prompt comes up, you let them enter that PIN. If where the terminal is placed is the problem, move the terminal. Some businesses just don't like money.
BTW, CVS may have turned NFC back on, according to a commenter on this USA Today article. I don't know how true that is, so someone will need to confirm.
However, I do understand why somewhere that doesn't get tourists would do that. 99% of US cards will be chip and signature so they might think that it's not really necessary to have the terminal somewhere a customer can access. Airports don't really have an excuse though.
However, I do understand why somewhere that doesn't get tourists would do that. 99% of US cards will be chip and signature so they might think that it's not really necessary to have the terminal somewhere a customer can access. Airports don't really have an excuse though.