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

[Quu]

All these stores want a cut of processing their own sales. It's annoying as it hurts the customer experience.

Apple were smart not to open the NFC in their devices to 3rd party apps, it stops them being able to use it at the till and forcing them to use less user friendly ways like pulling up a custom app and scanning a barcode from the phone screen.

I hope Apple Pay wins out.

 

[KPOM]

They don't use terminals - they scan a QR code on your phone in an app, and it is linked to a form of payment. One option being linking a checking account for ACH payments.

This bypasses any merchant fees.

A QR code? That sounds really secure.

 

[0970373]

This has little to do with the ACA than healthcare in general. Lower tier Blue Cross plans don't cover prescription drugs, and some only cover Tier 4 and Tier 5 drugs to a certain percentage. CVS and Walgreens (I believe Walgreens is the best) will cover more if you are a Walgreens participant (simply open an account). As a Type 1 Diabetic since 12, now 37 (let's not go there), I have a Platinum Plan from Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield and yet I sometimes fight them on denied coverage until they finally acquiesce.

You're my favorite now because you used acquiesce. Which happens to be one of my favorite words.

 

[KanosWRX]

This is just dumb, fighting over payments. It's money, If they don't want it I'll just go to Walgreens, they are much better anyways.

 

[RedOrchestra]

I'll just go to Walgreens, they are much better anyways.

So, if they're that much better, how come you haven't been doing ALL your shopping there, to begin with?

 

[Wurm5150]

Meijer is an Apple Pay launch partner and is listed on the Apple Pay page and they're also on MCX's list..

 

[Moto G]

...and the rest of the world carries on happily using cash and credit cards, with no issues.

Talk about making a simple bartering system overly complicated.

#1 Swipe card

#2 Enter PIN

#3 Walk away

Why is that complicated?

 

[doelcm82]

What percentage of shoppers, at Rite Aid and CVS, actually carry iPhone 6s?

Enough to spook CVS and Rite Aid into turning off ALL NFC payments, including Google Wallet and contactless cards in order to thwart Apple Pay.

It's the wrong move (IMO) for them, but it's also evidence that they take Apple Pay seriously.

 

[DotCom2]

Aren't they an official partner?

OH, good thinking!
I think they are.
WHEW!

 

[macduke]

Late 2014: Rite-Aid and CVS stopped accepting Apple Pay
Late 2015: Use our corny sounding "CurrentC" system! Don't worry about it collecting your private info!
2016: Rite-Aid and CVS retail sales slipping behind competitors Walgreens and others that accept multiple payment systems because they actually want customers to buy things.
Early 2017: Data leak at Rite-Aid leaves customers information vulnerable, customers of CVS worried about their data as well
Mid-2017: CVS switches support for Apple Pay back on
Late 2017: After leaks and slumping sales, the CEO of Rite-Aid steps down, acknowledges removing support for Apple Pay was clearly the wrong choice and takes full responsibility. The damage has been done and Rite-Aid files for bankruptcy, closing more than half of their stores as they reorganize in key markets.

 

[macfacts]

Fragmentation. N'uff said.

 

[iZac]

Not that it makes any odds to me since I use an iPhone 5 and don't live in the US - but why would this conglomeration of merchants want to abandon NFC? If the branded 'Apple Pay' is just a regular NFC payment system, then why are retails getting scared that Apple will bulldoze them like they did the music industry?

Perhaps it's just a lot of old suits who are too scared because they don't know how NFC works and want to make their own?

 

[Rogifan]

For everybody whining already, perhaps it would be nice to think about why they might do this? It's not like this is a service Apple is providing for free. Just because you don't have to pay for it doesn't mean somebody isn't. I don't know what Apple takes from these transactions and it is certainly not unheard of to have higher rates for those that are not affiliated with a certain program, so it could very well be that paying through Apple Pay costs them all or most of their margin.

Now I don't know about you guys, but if I had a company and customer convenience like Apple Pay cost me my margins I'd cut it off faster than you can say Apple Pay. None of you guys work for free, and neither should shops.

Nobody knows the terms but there's no indication Apple is screwing anyone over. Why would they when they want retailers to adopt Pay?

 

[iChrist]

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

Good luck. Walgreens is gonna do the same thing.

Apple didn't plan this out very well, as per their new normal SOP.

 

[0970373]

So, if they're that much better, how come you haven't been doing ALL your shopping there, to begin with?

Ummm...because they are all basically the same until a line is drawn in the sand?

Duane Reade (east coast mainly it seems) is the best for selection, ok with pricing. They were acquired by Walgreens. If there is a CVS or Rite Aid next to a Duane Reade, I'm going to Duane Reade. If I'm walking around and remember to pick something up while I'm in front of a Rite Aid or CVS, I'll go there. There's never really been a reason to differentiate until now.

 

[duervo]

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," that's now what this is about. A payment system of ANY kind cannot work if merchants intentionally to choose to fragment things. This is just as if RiteAid/CVS decided they accept Visa and MasterCard, but ONLY Visas from Bank of America, or Mastercards from CapitalOne. Not because of some inherent issue with the technology, but SOLELY because they decided that they want to impose their own.

No it's not. It's just as if CVS/Rite Aid decided to accept credit cards, but ONLY Visa, MasterCard, and Discover, and not American Express (at least that will most likely be their argument in court if it ever got that far.) A scenario which has been quite common for decades, yet the world continues to move on despite such limitations.

Same thing when U2 gave their last album away "for free" in iTunes and added to everybody's library (ie: was automatically added if you used Match, with no user interaction.) "User" in this case would be CVS/Rite Aid, but they never signed up for the "freebie" Apple Pay.

At any rate, all I'm saying is that there are always two sides in these types of things. If either party feels strongly enough that they have been wronged, and feel they have no choice left, they can always go to court over it.

 

[quagmire]

Good luck. Walgreens is gonna do the same thing.

Apple didn't plan this out very well, as per their new normal SOP.

And yet Walgreens is a launch partner for Apple Pay....

 

[gauchotee]

I have no problem with this

I'm not as brand loyal as many of you on this thread.

If CVS is convenient, I'll go to CVS and pay by card. If stores don't accept card or NFC, I'll pay by cash. It's no big deal.

I wish my life was so good that I'm worrying about who takes apple pay

 

[avanpelt]

...and the rest of the world carries on happily using cash and credit cards, with no issues.

Talk about making a simple bartering system overly complicated.

#1 Swipe card

#2 Enter PIN

#3 Walk away

Why is that complicated?

You forgot one thing...

#4 Hope there's not a skimmer on the terminal.

 

[RedOrchestra]

Enough to spook CVS and Rite Aid into turning off ALL NFC payments, including Google Wallet and contactless cards in order to thwart Apple Pay.

It's the wrong move (IMO) for them, but it's also evidence that they take Apple Pay seriously.

They turned it off because they don't have an agreement with Apple Pay. They'll probably have a fix, in the next couple of days, that will allow NFC, just not Apple Pay.

 

[tlevier]

So, just reading up on the CurrentC idea. It's pretty slick in terms of you loading loyalty cards, reward cards, etc and with one scan, 3 or 4 different things can happen: Coupons get applied, Rewards get deducted, Loyalty gets accrued and Payment occurs from not just credit / debit, but also checking acct as an option.

That said, I still think they're shooting themselves in the foot by attacking their perceived competition in this way. Also, I'm not sure I want to store my payment information in their "secure cloud vault". Seems like a recipe for disaster.

 

[0970373]

Good luck. Walgreens is gonna do the same thing.

Apple didn't plan this out very well, as per their new normal SOP.

Walgreens is an official launch partner and not part of the MCX consortium so I think we're safe with ApplePay there.

 

[doelcm82]

A QR code? That sounds really secure.

It's likely as secure as the tokens that Apple Pay uses or the method that Google Wallet uses. I expected the QR code is only valid for that particular transaction. It's just a bit clumsy.

 

[brsboarder]

bad for apple. Only die hard apple fans will stop shopping there, while there will be decreased spread of apple pay if this continues. Lots of lost revenue

 

[Designer Dale]

This is almost as brilliant as only accepting their own currency...

Who do you want in your digital wallet?

This guy from CVS

or

These guys and gals from Apple

Silly me...

Dale