JCPenney removed Apple Pay from their app and website out of ignorance and nothing else
I'm not sure about that. There are a few possibilities:
- They're not happy with the added costs. Maybe this is due to people using other credit cards instead of JCP's store card. Or perhaps more people were selecting the "credit" option when using their debit cards with AP (since that's more expensive for the merchant than choosing "debit" and entering a PIN). Or even just more people using cards in general given that their clientele trends older and typically used electronic payments less often in the past.
- Data collection. Maybe this is why the likes of Target blocked it in the past, but I don't think JCP has the resources to do this. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
- They wanted to get into the mobile wallet game. Again, I'm not sure they have the resources to do this on their own. They may be able to leverage some other company's solution, but would they achieve the same relative success as e.g. Starbucks and Walmart?
- They legitimately didn't want to support something they thought few customers used, likely due to cost reasons (besides certifications, there's IT support, etc. to deal with).
On the other hand, most of the above would likely have discouraged them from offering it in the first place.
since Apple Pay online and in apps has little, if anything, to do with NFC
If JCP had added EMV contactless support, AP support not being in the app would still be kinda weird, but I'd have chalked that up to some technical issue on their end. As it is, it looks an awful lot like they didn't intend on ever reenabling contactless or anything else related to AP.
And that ignorance is partly Apple's fault because they refuse to acknowledge openly that there are other forms of NFC contactless payment besides Apple Pay, and that confuses those not familiar with how Apple Pay works (which is also why several US retailers such as Walmart or Publix that don't want to accept Apple Pay disable NFC at all their stores: they ignorantly think they are only blocking Apple Pay by doing that, when in reality they are also blocking a ton of other forms of payment that also use NFC all the way down to contactless cards).
Why would they want to acknowledge something that arguably competes* with their own solution? If anything, contactless cards are
easier for users due to a) not needing batteries and b) not needing any authentication.
Also, I doubt the Walmarts and Publixes of the world are blocking contactless just to block AP. Canada, for instance, has had contactless cards for years before AP but Walmart up there still doesn't support anything other than insert and swipe.
* There's no contactless limit in the US, so one can easily tap physical cards for very large purchases without needing a signature or PIN--just like with AP. AP is more secure due to the separate DAN and fingerprint/Face ID requirement, however.
I make this clarification because Americans usually don't know that, and I hate how Apple takes advantage of it to make Americans think that NFC=Apple Pay and only Apple Pay.
Until very recently, mobile wallets were the
only way for most Americans to use contactless payment. Even now, there still aren't all that many contactless cards floating around and might not be for at least another year or two. Considering how many people use iOS vs. Android in the US, is it really a surprise that contactless payment is known as "Apple Pay" here?
They go so far as to keep NFC disabled at their apple stores located in Apple Pay unsupported countries where every single other merchant already accepts contactless payment, as was the case, until a few days ago, of Apple Stores located in any of the 13 countries that got Apple Pay this week.
Most items in Apple Stores are likely more expensive than a particular country's contactless limit. No point in enabling it until AP's available if most people have to insert anyway. Though I will give you that it's kinda unfair for visitors from other countries that have AP to not be able to use it.
