Latest Apple Pay Retailers Include LCBO and Former CurrentC Backers

[MacRumors]

Liquor, wine, and beer drinkers across Ontario, Canada can now pay for their alcoholic beverages with an iPhone or Apple Watch, as LCBO has confirmed that it now accepts Apple Pay at all of its over 850 stores in the province.

LCBO had been gradually rolling out Apple Pay support since June at its stores, which have long been equipped with NFC-based terminals for contactless payments, and the province-wide rollout was officially completed last week.

Meanwhile, former CurrentC backers continue to reverse course and expand Apple Pay support at their U.S. stores. Twitter user Matt S. was able to use Apple Pay at Sheetz, a gas and convenience chain with over 500 stores in mostly Mid-Atlantic states, next to Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

Sheetz has not publicly confirmed that it is widely launching Apple Pay at the gas pump, but many of its locations are equipped with the requisite contactless payments infrastructure to tap an iPhone or Apple Watch.

QuikTrip, another U.S. chain of over 730 gas and convenience stores in the midwest and southern United States, has also supported Apple Pay and other contactless payments since February, with all locations coming on board within the past few weeks. QuikTrip does not appear to accept Apple Pay directly at their gas pumps at this time.

QuikTrip began piloting Apple Pay earlier this year (Image: Ian M. via Twitter)​

Sheetz and QuikTrip were both previously committed to the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) and its indefinitely-postponed Apple Pay rival CurrentC.

Sheetz and QuikTrip join a handful of other former MCX members that now accept Apple Pay, including high-profile retailers Best Buy and Rite Aid. Apple Pay holdouts Walmart and Target also belonged to MCX, but the former released Walmart Pay and the latter is developing its own similar QR code-based solution.

Update: Former MCX member CVS also appears to be testing Apple Pay support on contactless payment terminals at select U.S. stores. The pharmacy chain's official stance is that it's "in the process of evaluating mobile payment options for our customers."

Article Link: Latest Apple Pay Retailers Include LCBO and Former CurrentC Backers

 

[matthew12]

Yup, QT started to accept Apple Pay at the one near me sometime in early-mid June. Super convenient when grabbing a snack after Nerf Wars club at college.

 

[Roadstar]

Nice. Now how about working on expanding Apple Pay's availability in more countries. It's frustrating to have NFC-enabled hardware with no way to use it as Apple can't work out the deals and they're not allowing 3rd party developers access the hardware either.

 

[nutmac]

Retailers seem more open to EMV payment than chip and pin. Many retailers in my area accept EMV but chip and pin are either disabled or have eternal "coming soon" sticker by the slot.

 

[Drumjim85]

Retailers seem more open to EMV payment than chip and pin. Many retailers in my area accept EMV but chip and pin are either disabled or have eternal "coming soon" sticker by the slot.

EMV is Chip and Pin. I think you mean NFC?

 

[heeloliver]

Having NFC at QT has been awesome. It honestly does save time and keeps me from pulling out my wallet.

 

[nagromme]

My Starbucks THINKS they take Apple Pay, but they don't... The new chip readers are there, but no NFC enabled. Big chain to make such a mistake.

 

[graywolf323]

Target and Wal-Mart are being idiots about this

 

[egibbys]

I asked Target on twitter when we would be able to use Apple Pay at the register. They responded and said they were currently working on it.

 

[rigormortis]

Walmart has rolled out their payment thing country wide. I was able to buy "sporting goods" in Milpitas with it . I think its safe to say that Walmart ROLLED out Walmart pay and is no longer "working on it"

 

[Karma*Police]

Retailers seem more open to EMV payment than chip and pin. Many retailers in my area accept EMV but chip and pin are either disabled or have eternal "coming soon" sticker by the slot.

Maybe it's because chip and PIN is a PITA; it's slow and unintuitive.

 

[rigormortis]

I learned something new about Apple Pay I have to share.

If your card gets stolen or replaced. Your apple pay is automatically suspended. If you leave it alone and activate your replacement card, your apple pay will come back automatically. I did not know this. So I erased the old card. And got An email later on that said it would come back.

 

[gsmornot]

You guys talking about chip and pin must not be US based. Here in the US we have the less secure chip and signature. No chip and pin in use. Apple Pay is a step up. The chip and signature may help at some level but nothing in that validates who you are since you can just scribble on the pad. At least adding the pin adds a second factor and Apple Pay has the fingerprint.

 

[jmh600cbr]

LCBO took Apple Pay one day 1. That is because they accepted NFC payments for the last 5 years.

What people need to understand: all retailers accepting NFC (tap to pay) accept Apple Pay.

 

[tmiw]

Supposedly CVS too, albeit just with AmEx.

Retailers seem more open to EMV payment than chip and pin. Many retailers in my area accept EMV but chip and pin are either disabled or have eternal "coming soon" sticker by the slot.

The NRF is actually very anti-contactless payment, so it's no surprise. There'll probably be a fair number who never enable it until they get significant fee concessions from Visa et al.

My Starbucks THINKS they take Apple Pay, but they don't... The new chip readers are there, but no NFC enabled. Big chain to make such a mistake.

I'm pretty sure they do. The barista has to push a button on their end to turn the reader on though.

You guys talking about chip and pin must not be US based. Here in the US we have the less secure chip and signature. No chip and pin in use. Apple Pay is a step up. The chip and signature may help at some level but nothing in that validates who you are since you can just scribble on the pad. At least adding the pin adds a second factor and Apple Pay has the fingerprint.

That form of fraud is actually low enough that the banks feel that PIN will cost more money than will save them. They also think that EMV/chip is/will soon be "obsolete" so that's why most of the focus is on stuff like Apple Pay.

 

[gsmornot]

That form of fraud is actually low enough that the banks feel that PIN will cost more money than will save them. They also think that EMV/chip is/will soon be "obsolete" so that's why most of the focus is on stuff like Apple Pay.

I thought the reason they did not implement PIN is to save the consumer a step. Already the CHIP is too slow for most people so many retailers have not turned it on. Adding PIN to this is even more steps the buyer is not yet willing to accept.

 

[freepomme]

What about... CVS

 

[tmiw]

I thought the reason they did not implement PIN is to save the consumer a step. Already the CHIP is too slow for most people so many retailers have not turned it on. Adding PIN to this is even more steps the buyer is not yet willing to accept.

From here:

A lost or stolen chip card can still be used fraudulently by a thief in a store purchase or by phone or online, an event that retailers believe use of a PIN will prevent. However, only about 5% of card fraud comes from stolen or lost cards, Johnson said.

Also, a fair number of banks will let you cancel your card and request a new one through their website or mobile app, so there's not that big of a window for lost/stolen fraud to happen.
[doublepost=1468276780][/doublepost]

What about... CVS

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...rt-nfc-payments.1806254/page-33#post-23056860

 

[Stella]

Not news. Been able to pay LCBO from day 1 of Apple Pay in Canada. Their payment system automatically supported AP like everywhere else that takes Tap.

 

[emcampbe]

Nice. Now how about working on expanding Apple Pay's availability in more countries. It's frustrating to have NFC-enabled hardware with no way to use it as Apple can't work out the deals and they're not allowing 3rd party developers access the hardware either.

Technically, you can use Apple Pay in most countries - you just can't use it with local credit cards unless they are set up. I used Apple Pay with my US cards in Canada before it rolled out there, because most places accept NFC payments. I've also used at merchants accepting NFC in India, again, with my US cards. Now that Canadian banks are setup, I have added both my Canadian and US cards which is nice - and be fact that most merchants actually accept NfC, as opposed to the Us, means you really don't have to carry physical cards.

I thought the reason they did not implement PIN is to save the consumer a step. Already the CHIP is too slow for most people so many retailers have not turned it on. Adding PIN to this is even more steps the buyer is not yet willing to accept.

Um, really, you think big banks didn't implement PIN to help consumers? Don't be silly - it's all about $ and it costing more.

Here in the US we have the less secure chip and signature. No chip and pin in use.

To be fair, Chip and PIN does exist in the US. Just very few issuers, and especially the bigger ones, don't use it.

I asked Target on twitter when we would be able to use Apple Pay at the register. They responded and said they were currently working on it.

Like many retailers, Target has the devices that accept NFC, but don't have it turned on. I don't really get it - since they take Apple Pay on their app.

On the other hand, DD, at least in my area, does 'take' Apple Pay. Except everytime I've tried using it, they ask me for my 3 digit security code. Which obviously the cards with ApplePay don't have. I've tried 000, I've tried the 3 digits on my physical add, and tried the 4 digits listed in Apple Pay settings for the card and nothing works. So they claim to take Apple Pay, but can't get it to work.

 

[Shunnabunich]

Yeah, announcements of individual retailers supporting Pay in Canada are pretty redundant — it'd likely be easier to compile a list of the few that haven't yet switched on their NFC hardware (or, in some cases, replaced their old PIN pads), and scratch them off as they join the rest of the country.

 

[DisNerd]

SHEEEEEEEETZ

 

[xpxp2002]

I figured it was a matter of time before MCX would fold. It was more obnoxious and painful than using EMV and waiting the 10 seconds to do an online auth.

And I got that notification last week too, but I refuse to use Walmart Pay on principle. I figure the less adoption it sees, the sooner it'll go away and they can devote their attention to supporting NFC payments. Hopefully WP will die (an albeit slow death), and they can finally conform to what the customers want instead of trying to strong-arm the industry into using its QR code kludge of a payment system just to save on transaction fees.

 

[philfry]

This is interesting about sheetz. I will have to test this out.

 

[Boatboy24]

Not directly related to this article, but I recently learned that you can use Apple Pay in Exxon/Mobil's Speedpass+ app. It's pretty seamless, aside from having to open the app and scan the barcode on the pump. After that, a simple thumbprint read authorizes the payment.