CVS Stores Reportedly Disabling NFC to Shut Down Apple Pay and Google Wallet

[scaredpoet]

Second- theres some small irony in Apple folks complaining about another company eshewing an "open system" (NFC) in favor of their own, closed proprietary one

How so? Apple has a long history of open source contribution. Their videos and audio codecs are industry standard. Their Macs boot Windows and accept the same connectors, run on the same internet, and edit the same files. iCloud works on Windows machines. Apple SIM cards work on any carrier that will accept them (except Verizon which arbitrarily chose not to).

And Apple's NFC implementation works anywhere Google Wallet does... unless a merchant takes extra effort and extraordinary measures to deliberately shut it down.

Their implementations may be custom and proprietary, but where it counts, Apple remains interoperable.

 

[joneill55]

Walgreens here I come!

#ByebyeCVS

 

[Manderby]

After reading this thread, I think I will cancel my vacation to the US. Afraid to get murdered by everyday people.

Seriously, have some of you gone mad?

 

[djgamble]

Apple pay will never replace physical cards/cash. Too many factors out of Apples control. What a waste of NFC technology.

That's like saying 1 bank will never replace another. Maybe not, but it can still be useful and make money!

 

[scaredpoet]

But, if enough retailers passed on said discounts to customers, then it could increase desire for the iPhone 6. As it is right now, they can't give them away.

Uhhh, what planet are you living on? Because on planet earth...

iPhone 6 lines in NYC are still bigger than big a month after launch

iPhone 6 demand continues to outstrip supply, may not see balance before 2015

Is Apple Nearing 20 Million iPhone 6 Sales Already? Signs Point To Yes

People aren't lining up for the iPhone 6 right now.

I'm gonna let the above speak for itself.

 

[Actor Man]

Waiting for MCX Payments...

"A claimed internal Rite Aid message shared with SlashGear supports this notion, instructing cashiers to explain to customers that Apple Pay is not supported but that MCX's solution will be available next year."

Cashier: Uh... we don't accept Apple Pay. We're developing our own payment service called "MCX."

Me: :::trying to find credit card::: Really...? Wow. That's backwards thinking. Hey, I have an idea... (grabs $100 worth of items purchased and heads for the door without paying) Give me a call when that system comes online.

Going to a CVS and Rite-Aid pharmacy will now be like walking into a Mexican farmacia and trying to pay with U.S. money.

 

[Max(IT)]

MCX is going to fail....
They will change policy in less than a year. Guaranteed...

 

[samcraig]

"A claimed internal Rite Aid message shared with SlashGear supports this notion, instructing cashiers to explain to customers that Apple Pay is not supported but that MCX's solution will be available next year."

Cashier: Uh... we don't accept Apple Pay. We're developing our own payment service called "MCX."

Me: :::trying to find credit card::: Really...? Wow. That's backwards thinking. Hey, I have an idea... (grabs $100 worth of items purchased and heads for the door without paying) Give me a call when that system comes online.

Going to a CVS and Rite-Aid pharmacy will now be like walking into a Mexican farmacia and trying to pay with U.S. money.

Only it's not because you don't have to use MCX's app. You can still pay with your CC and cash.

Pretty obtuse post.

 

[Max(IT)]

I have been a CVS customer for YEARS. Going to switch to Walgreens. This is ridiculous.

They are going to lose customers. Very smart move.

----------

So this is a competition thing now. Completely excluding a form of payment because they want to use their own system.

Indeed. But if you aren't Apple (or Google), you just going to lose....

 

[charlituna]

Why the hell would I want to use their mobile wallet versus Apple Pay? I'll go to Walgreens across the street, thanks.

There is an ease of use case for being able to do the loyalty card and pay together. That is a pro.

Cons that I see:
They disabled all NFC which means those that don't have a smart phone like older customers lose access to that thus far hack proof security.
Questions of security on this cloud system
Likely sharing of info with other merchants about buying habits. Sorry but if I wanted CVS to know me I'd shop there.

 

[eebrown]

I must be missing something here, why not accept payments made by NFC and CurrentC ? why would these retailers turn away any form of payment especially if they have the NFC already in place.
If they are doing it to get away from the fees that the credit card companies charge then I guess that makes some kind of sense but it certinly impact sales. Seems the last thing they need to do is not only piss off the people that want to use NFC transactions but also now piss of the credit card companies that bring in a lot of their business due to the fact we are so dependent on using credit cards.

It does amaze me how reluctant some of these retailers are to address the security concerns that people have after all the recent stories in the news about peoples credit card information being compromised, I for one have not used my debit card in the last 7-8 weeks due to a couple of the stores that I use being compromised, namely Target and Home Depot I have resorted to using cash for all purchases.

 

[69650]

We've had mobile wallet services in the UK for the past 3 years and I've honestly never once seen anyone use it anywhere. I use a contactless payment card whenever possible because it's so quick. Compare that with Apple Pay: Get out my iPhone then unlock it then open the Apple Pay app then find the card I want to pay with then tap and click to pay. It's going to take longer so what's the point. I'm going to have to carry my bank cards with me anyway simply because not everyone will support Apple Pay.

 

[osofast240sx]

Didn't Steve Jobs criticize large Android phones? They now make a phone taller than the Note series that started it all. Who's copying who right now?

Making a larger phone is not copying! Apple always had plans to make larger phones. Apples strategy has always been not to be the first.

 

[charlituna]

Welp, now I know I'm going to Walgreens whenever i need something from a drugstore.

And for those who insist on saying that "Apple users don't rule the world,"

Remember that shutting off NFC also kills google wallet, and chip and pin.

 

[matrix07]

I'm not going to go into a 30 year history lesson by the week here... Intentional ignorance doesn't erase the obvious.

Those who receive constant e-mails from Apple based on purchase history, the movies you watch on your Apple TV, the music you listen to from your own private library in iTunes, etc. is just a small tiny example. It grows significantly as you get into iPhone apps, music / video downloads, etc. Everything you involve Apple in, even if you think it's just using content on your own machines is archived. Even their recent search features pull data...

As for lying... seriously... anyone who's been through Apple's never ending denial strategy, will be very familiar with this habit.

Apple is the heaviest mass marketer of email spam based on mined information that I've ever seen. I get numerous e-mails from them every day, all targeted based on what I've watched on my Apple TV streamed from my own hard drive on movies which were not even purchased from Apple.

My junk e-mail account gets dozens of emails from Apple for every 1 message I get from any other entity in the world. They are far more aggressive in their marketing than Target, and Kroger, etc. who I use store club cards for, and yet never harass me with promotional messages and targeted emails. Now, spitting out coupons based on what I just purchased doesn't bother me. Sending me a dozen e-mails a day based on what I watched from my own hard drive that didn't come from Apple, yeah, that's a little invasive. I'm just glad Apple only has my junk e-mail account.

Oh, a concerned troll. I should have known better when I saw the word "independent thinker". lol. Just wasted my time with worthless post but lesson learnt.
Look at the thread title, there's the words "Apple Pay" you should notice. Get back to me when you can think of what "Apple Pay" is data mining that Apple's lying about. OK?

 

[scaredpoet]

"A claimed internal Rite Aid message shared with SlashGear supports this notion, instructing cashiers to explain to customers that Apple Pay is not supported but that MCX's solution will be available next year."

Cashier: Uh... we don't accept Apple Pay. We're developing our own payment service called "MCX."

Me: :::trying to find credit card::: Really...? Wow. That's backwards thinking. Hey, I have an idea... (grabs $100 worth of items purchased and heads for the door without paying) Give me a call when that system comes online

Actually, if you REALLY want to annoy a CVS or RiteAid employee, just leave the stuff at the counter, say "well, I left my wallet in the car.. I might as well just hop back in there and go to Walgreens" and walk away, leaving the stuff on the counter for them to have to put back.

If you consider doing this though, consider also that the CVS/RiteAId employee is just a front-line grunt. They didn't make this decision, and they might either not care about it or not support the decision at all.

On the other hand... they get paid either way. And a LOT of CVS/Rite Aid grunts having to restock shelves with unsold merchandise left at the counter might get some attention at the top.

 

[69650]

Remember that shutting off NFC also kills google wallet, and chip and pin.

Chip and Pin does not require NFC.

 

[BruiserB]

We've had mobile wallet services in the UK for the past 3 years and I've honestly never once seen anyone use it anywhere. I use a contactless payment card whenever possible because it's so quick. Compare that with Apple Pay: Get out my iPhone then unlock it then open the Apple Pay app then find the card I want to pay with then tap and click to pay. It's going to take longer so what's the point. I'm going to have to carry my bank cards with me anyway simply because not everyone will support Apple Pay.

Except that's not how ApplePay works. Only extra step beyond what you do with your contactless card is to put your thumb on TouchID. No app to open, etc.

That bit of extra trouble seems worth it.....lose your phone, no one else can use it....lose your card and you better call your bank and cancel it quickly. Oh your bank covers those costs anyway so it's not your problem?? Maybe that's why banks find it good value to pay Apple 0.15% for the security, because it is their problem.

 

[scaredpoet]

Remember that shutting off NFC also kills google wallet, and chip and pin.

Indeed, it does. Users of those systems should be up in arms as well.

 

[Southern Dad]

Everyone should go to CVS and RiteAid, put about $50-100 of stuff in their buggy, and then when they don't accept ApplePay tell them never mind and walk out.

Did better than that. Went in yesterday to pick up prescriptions. You know the business they are actually supposed to be in. When they said they didn't take Apple Pay, I told them I'd transfer the prescriptions across the street to Walgreens who wants my business.

Left her shaking her head, I have a new pharmacy.

 

[osofast240sx]

We've had mobile wallet services in the UK for the past 3 years and I've honestly never once seen anyone use it anywhere. I use a contactless payment card whenever possible because it's so quick. Compare that with Apple Pay: Get out my iPhone then unlock it then open the Apple Pay app then find the card I want to pay with then tap and click to pay. It's going to take longer so what's the point. I'm going to have to carry my bank cards with me anyway simply because not everyone will support Apple Pay.

you do not have to unlock, it can be locked hold it up to the terminal and press on the touch ID

 

[samcraig]

Making a larger phone is not copying! Apple always had plans to make larger phones. Apples strategy has always been not to be the first.

You honestly have no idea what Apple's plan were and for how long.

Apple's strategy isn't about being first - it's about tight integration. Their strategy isn't about NOT being first.

Like any SMART business - a company pays attention to the marketplace. That's why Apple has a larger phone. Regardless of the misconception that Apple just does what they want (and tells the consumer what they want and need), they do, in fact, pay attention to the competition.

That's not the same as copying.

 

[yg17]

ins't this in a way monopolizing by refusing to take a certain payment method and forcefully turning off a setting on a program because they are developing their own system it there not some thing illegal about this?

Umm, no. Retailers are free to choose what payment methods they accept. CVS could decide that they ONLY accept CurrentC - no cash, credit, debit or check, and they would be well within their right to do so.

 

[scaredpoet]

Umm, no. Retailers are free to choose what payment methods they accept. CVS could decide that they ONLY accept CurrentC - no cash, credit, debit or check, and they would be well within their right to do so.

...only doing so means they'd forgo revenue of any kind through at least the end of 2014, if not a good portion of 2015... since CurrentC isn't even online yet.

Which is what makes this whole thing even more stupid. I might slightly disagree less with Rite Aid and CVS on this if CurrentC were running today. But they have no contactless alternative right now. None. Just "next year sometime, we'll have this other thing, so you can't use what you have now."

Meanwhile: I've been using ApplePay at a number of places... the local Wegmans, a Walgreens, Hess gas station, a Shop Rite, even Walmart... and there really is no exaggeration about how nice it is to use. And none of the cashiers blinked an eye over it, nor did I have to explicitly mention that I was using it. I just did it, and it just worked.

 

[haulis]

We've had mobile wallet services in the UK for the past 3 years and I've honestly never once seen anyone use it anywhere. I use a contactless payment card whenever possible because it's so quick. Compare that with Apple Pay: Get out my iPhone then unlock it then open the Apple Pay app then find the card I want to pay with then tap and click to pay. It's going to take longer so what's the point. I'm going to have to carry my bank cards with me anyway simply because not everyone will support Apple Pay.

You know that isn't how Apple Pay works right? It works from the lock screen, literally takes two seconds.

Hold phone to reader, default card is shown, authenticate with finger. Done.