JCPenney Now Accepts Apple Pay Nationwide, Integrates With Own Credit Card and Loyalty Program

[lionsy]

As it has been typical for Apple services they aren't really useful outside of their home market.

Surely you know how silly that statement is when Apple Pay was late to the game in places like the UK where they were advertising this amazing new technology called Apple Pay and everyone just looked at each other like Apple had time travelled from 2002. Seriously, Contactless payment on debit cards was widespread in most of Europe by 2010, the only place Apple Pay is struggling is the US, because the banking system there is archaic.

Just to put that into perspective, a couple of banks in the UK were issuing contactless cards as standard just over a year after the iPhone debuted.

 

[Tech198]

I see a gold mile

Retailers use Apple pay to earn reward points.....

 

[VARTV]

I'm waiting for Sears and K-Mart...

 

[Lepton]

Now? Now that they are on their last legs? Where were they years ago? I don't get why so many places reject Apple Pay until they practically get dragged into it by customer demand. Why don't they want my money?

 

[willmtaylor]

But how will all of the JCP shoppers get their physical coupons into their phone?!?!

No doubt the Genius Bar will soon have cases of paper jammed into various ports.

I was done with JCP when they insisted on going back to ridiculous coupon policies in lieu of Ron Johnson's simplified pricin scheme.

 

[nburwell]

The shocking thing is that people still shop at JCPenney.

The few stores they had around me have all since closed.

 

[CrystalQuest76]

Hate to be catty but, truly, to JCP customers even have smart phones?

Some how people on public assistance seem able to scrape up enough credit or cash to get smart phones. Many of them are iPhones. They justify the purchase as a means to search for the many part time jobs that require employees be 'on-call'. And of course they need those phones to be 'on-call'.

 

[chipb]

JCPenny - if you aren't 65 or older, you aren't shopping in JCPenny....FACT!!

 

[James F.]

A lot of retailers and clerks are simply weird. I'm assuming it has to do with Apple getting a slice of the pie or the retailer having to pay a transaction fee. Idk.

It's funny when employees don't know they can take contactless payments and they get weirded out by it. Like... Calm down, it's my credit card just in digital form.

Yah that is part of the problem. The other big part of the problem is that big store chains are fighting taking Apple Pay because it doesn't give them any information about their customer. Wally world and Target both want to know everything you buy. This way they can target you with marketing to make you spend more. The problem is that Apple Pay sends no information about the consumer. Even if you go to and Apple store and use it you have to type in your email address if you want and email recite since it can't identify you to automatically fill in your email address. Big chain stores don't want to give up getting that information. There is an easy solution for this. Just do what Walgreens does and give perks for being part of their rewards program. Customers will then use Apple Pay to ok their rewards that will send information about who you are and what you are buying, but then again why would these guys want to pay for something they get for free.

 

[topmounter]

JC Penny still exists?

 

[BeefCake 15]

I'm waiting for Sears and K-Mart...

Yeah!!! Until then I will continue to conveniently not shop there

For those who will ask why all the hate against JCP:
I went there few months ago to find some nice slacks and could not find the size or color I want. I asked for help and the mediocre at best customer service rep had to browse their web page for online orders on a computer that reminded me of the mid 90s. Ordered online to ship at home but while being inside the store....This happened few times and at Macy's as well. I gave up on those places and whenever I go to the mall and take another look (they're the entrance to the mall) at their collection, still can't believe how little things change to improve.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Some how people on public assistance seem able to scrape up enough credit or cash to get smart phones. Many of them are iPhones. They justify the purchase as a means to search for the many part time jobs that require employees be 'on-call'. And of course they need those phones to be 'on-call'.

Right but my JPC comment was more about the "culture" of it's customer base than it's income-strata. The JCP customer seems to be resistant to change and modernization. That is what Ron Johnson's "update" was all about. He tried to freshen up the brand but the existing customers rejected it.

Compare that to, say Target, which serves the same customers as JCP, among others. The quality of clothes at JCP are no worse than Target's house brand clothes. But Target always seeks to be on trend both in project lineup and store display so it attracts younger people JCP can't. Target's Cartwheel app is quite popular if judging by # of reviews. OTOH JCP's seems less used.

 

[0023828]

As it has been typical for Apple services they aren't really useful outside of their home market.

Contactless Payment in the UK is pretty much everywhere, I can't remember the last time I went to a store that didn't have it. Banks like Monzo and Starling have absolutely taken off and people are really keen to use Apple and Samsung Pay here too.

 

[Plutonius]

They were busy trying to stay solvent.

I don't think that this is the reason. I think that adopting Applepay immediately would have helped them out more rather then waiting. I believe all their registers were NFC so there would not have been a hardware upgrade cost.

Most of time it seems like if a store hasn't adopted Applepay it is because they were rolling out their own system.
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I'm not gonna lie. I had no idea JC Penny's was still in business.

That's where I do my clothes shopping .
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JCPenny - if you aren't 65 or older, you aren't shopping in JCPenny....FACT!!

I think you got your facts wrong . I'm under 65 and I shop there.

 

[Tozovac]

Two happy thoughts here:

1) It's good to see that Jony Ive's monothematic-minimalistic-fashion-first-before-intuitive-functionality design team police didn't intervene, and permitted whichever payment-input hardware supplier to employ a design that entertainingly looks like a 90's Nokia phone. (Don't worry Jony Ive, customers won't be put off or left helplessly confused from having to look at and press buttons that look like actual buttons!)

2) It's nice to see an app with hints of non-flat design and actual different-colored zones with actual dark colors instead of a preliminary-draft-looking all-white design.

Kudos!!

 

[44267547]

The shocking thing is that people still shop at JCPenney.

The few stores they had around me have all since closed.

JC Penney Stores closed in my area as well. Kohls completed dominated them by adding more Stores and their consistent sale/discount prices trounced JC Penney in every way. Not to mention JC Penney never advertised the way other competitors did. But I can remember when Penney'S was once so popular, only to have their buildings remain vacant in my area.

 

[Tozovac]

That's where I do my clothes shopping .
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I think you got your facts wrong . I'm under 65 and I shop there.

Ditto - JCP & Macy's are super great for online ordering of work/dress clothes in multiple sizes, then return the ones that don't fit. Big fan of both. Hope this may help them do incrementally better too.

 

[ignatius345]

This is great news for me. I need some loose dad jeans and a scented candle for my wife and I don't want to take out my wallet to pay for them.

 

[blacktape242]

now if only Target would pick it up... for me that would be huge.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

By "accepting Apple Pay", they mean installing contactless readers at the point of sale. Most stores here in the US don't have those, so when they install them they are able to accept Apple Pay and other forms of contactless payment, and so announce it like this.

My experience in the U.S. has been that it's more likely for a store to have a terminal that is capable of contactless but is purposefully turned off, which is all the more infuriating.

 

[mariusignorello]

But can you add an associate discount card to Apple Pay too as a pass?

 

[Plutonius]

Ditto - JCP & Macy's are super great for online ordering of work/dress clothes in multiple sizes, then return the ones that don't fit. Big fan of both. Hope this may help them do incrementally better too.

I can see them going out of business but I'll shop there while I can.

 

[tmiw]

I thought JCPenney had NFC turned on for a while. At least I remember reading something about that, anyway.

But most that do don't have a problem with Apple Pay.

Honestly, most stores have a problem with card use in general, not just Apple Pay. See below.

I don’t know about your situation but in the U.S. the transaction processing companies charge fees for just about everything. I have a friend in the retail business. He doesn’t accept NFC payments even though his terminal is capable because he would have to pay an additional fee for the service to be activated. Same goes for chip-and-pin cards... additional processing fees. Retailers already pay something like 3% for credit card processing. All that eats into margins and small retailers usually operate on thin margins to begin with.

This is probably a much bigger reason than the "collecting customer data" excuse that's frequently mentioned; a lot of the major retailers that are holding out already have loyalty programs of some sort (store credit cards in the case of Target and Walmart, cards that are scanned by the clerk in the case of CVS and many others), some of which work even if the customer is paying with cash. Anything that makes card use easier (and thus costs stores money) is unwanted as a result.

If it were up to them, many stores would still be cash only or would surcharge for every card transaction to heavily discourage their use. The latter might very well happen considering the recent SCOTUS decision.

From what I've seen, companies start accepting Apple Pay / NFC as a side effect of upgrading their Point Of Sale terminals to ones which can handle chip card readers.

If they have a standalone terminal that's only plugged into an internet connection or phone line, sure. A lot of places use POS systems, however, and terminals here have much tighter integration with those than elsewhere--resulting in significant development effort being required on both ends to support every single feature desired by the store. Considering this and the point I made above, a lot of places aren't really going to expend the effort unless there's customer demand.

 

[Robert.Walter]

As it has been typical for Apple services they aren't really useful outside of their home market.

Really?

I’m using Apple Pay on a daily basis here in Switzerland. My 65 y/o neighbor intends to use her Apple Pay when she visits Berlin and Kiel this coming week.
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I don’t know about your situation but in the U.S. the transaction processing companies charge fees for just about everything. I have a friend in the retail business. He doesn’t accept NFC payments even though his terminal is capable because he would have to pay an additional fee for the service to be activated. Same goes for chip-and-pin cards... additional processing fees. Retailers already pay something like 3% for credit card processing. All that eats into margins and small retailers usually operate on thin margins to begin with.

Should get a different processor.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Hate to be catty but, truly, to JCP customers even have smart phones? I mean these are the same customers that rejected Ron Johnson's modernization attempt.

Uh, yeah, that's catty alright. Smart phones are, like, everywhere now. You'd noticed that, right?

The modernization effort was misguided. Penney's has been an off-price retailer for ages. Johnson was trying to execute a turn on a dime into something entirely different. It was a doomed plan.

I was in a Penney's just yesterday. It was kind of jammed, and not with old people, but families. Lots of kids. They sell large appliances now, which I thought was interesting. I was in Macy's too. That store was kind of deserted. Considering malls are generally in trouble nationwide, Penney's seems to be hanging on quite well. Penney's has been doomed for like 15 years now. Kind of sounds familiar.