Retailers Cite 'Insufficient Customer Demand' as Biggest Reason for Not Supporting Apple Pay

[Makosuke]

Apple pay is neat, but paying with cash or plastic isn't a pain point and is a very efficient process.

True, and probably how the average consumer sees it--until you have to have your credit card replaced and start monitoring your credit report because some retailer's shoddy security got your card number stolen.

I've had to have my primary credit card replaced twice in as many years thanks to Staples and Target getting my card numbers stolen, and given the large numbers involved in those hacks, I am not alone. Apple Pay would have stopped my card # and info getting stolen in both of those instances (Staples is particularly glaring, since that hack happened just before Apple Pay rolled out if memory serves).

Personally, I'm sick of the current system for both the lack of privacy and security, and I have actively stopped shopping at retailers that don't support Apple Pay when a competing retailer that does accept it (say, Walgreens vs. CVS) is available. I also took the time to write to the CurrentC partners that I shop at to tell them I wouldn't be shopping there anymore.

 

[Popeye206]

Which came first? The Chicken or the egg.... classic problem... but I do think over time, all retailers will put in NFC support. Apple Pay and Google Pay will eventually become the norm and the pressure will be competitive and from the consumers.

 

[kds1]

Twenty-eight total retailers noted that lack of data access, and the inability to send customized advertisements to individual users like traditional credit cards allow, is a "key reason" they won't accept Apple Pay.

Eff You retailers. This is exactly WHY I like ApplePay. My data is NOT shared with you.

 

[txpilot82]

I tried using Apple Pay at the drive thru of McDonald's. Held out my phone and said "I would like to use Apple Pay". Cashier looked at me as though I was speaking a foreign language and asked "What's Apple Pay?" Paid with plastic.


I have had similar experiences more often than not attempting to use Apple Pay in stores including several McDonald's locations and a Panera Bread. It shouldn't be the customer's responsibility to train retailers' employees. This is why I rarely try to use Apple Pay.

 

[peteo]

I agree. Also with so many not supporting it, the security benefits are minimal.

I also find it awkward to do it. The merchant sometimes has to do something prior to you using it which means rather than "just working" like a credit card or cash, there's an extra little head nod.

The McDonalds by my house I noticed says you can do Apple Pay in the drive thru, but there is no equipment outside to do it so you'd basically have to ask them to provide you with the equipment to do it...or hand over your credit card like everything else.

How are the Security benefits are minimal? even if you only use it at once place, it that place gets hacked it protects your info

 

[Makosuke]

This is about the retailers waiting to get MCX up and running so they can cut out the middle man (credit cards) so they can mine data and also charge customers for payment transactions.

Almost certainly. Although they're not going to charge customers for transactions, they're just going to keep that extra 2% for themselves to pad the bottom line. I'm highly skeptical we'll see that price difference passed on via lower retail pricing--they'll just keep the prices the same (since they do have to also accept credit cards) and pocket the difference when you use CurrentC.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Just ask them to hand you the device

That's clunky IMO. It's just easier to use cash when doing drive through. No information transferred that can be used against you later like with credit cards.

 

[4jasontv]

I check with every transaction I make. I almost had my fiancé let me pay for lunch at Subway just so I could use Apple Pay because she doesn't use a bank that supports it.

The more often we use it the more it sends that info to the retailers. I think Apple needs to take the time to advertise how simple and fast Apple Pay is. The speed and purchase logging on the phone is the selling point to people.

I don't think that anything justifies eating at Subway.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

so many retailers have the hardware but elect to not have NFC or the pin reader enabled. i don't understand the logic

Remember that Apple Pay is bad for retailers. With a standard credit card, they get your name and other information. This allow them to build a profile of you. Target is a great example of a retailer that does this. They can tell you what day of the week and time you usually shop with them, what items you generally buy, how you pay, and MUCH more. This allows them to target promotions and other things at you. Here's an example of them and hadn't told her parents yet.

But with Apple Pay, the retailer only gets a randomly assigned number for the transaction. This means they can't build a profile around you. They can't target advertising at you and do other things that bring them more money.

This is one major reason retailers don't like Apple Pay.

 

[coffeemadmanUK]

It's so quick and easy to use chip & pin or contactless cards I can't see most people bothering with Apple Pay once the initial interest has died down. I wouldn't use my iPhone but I would use the Apple Watch if I could just hold it against a contactless terminal to make small payments. Easier than fumbling around for change.

I'm the same. I want to like Apple Pay but I think it's only quicker for the US who aren't used to contactless as much as the UK is. It's really quick to tap and go with my card now.

I love using my Watch at Starbucks for example, but I have to wait in line and then judge when best to get the Watch ready to scan, and I imagine it's similar with Apple Pay.

Then again - I've not used it so these are just thoughts.

Also it's not going to work if the guy at the till needs to press a button to activate contactless. When you have a card they can normally see it and activate it automatically. What I've found with the Watch is that the sales assistant doesn't see a card and assumes cash, which means I need to then explain I'm using the Watch and they need to press additional buttons - time lost.

I know that's not Apple's fault, but it's just a fact of how a lot of terminals work.

 

[a1kim]

Apple pay is neat, but paying with cash or plastic isn't a pain point and is a very efficient process.

But if Target had Apple Pay back in 2013/2014, I wouldn't have had someone steal my credit card info.

 

[laurim]

I tried using Apple Pay at the drive thru of McDonald's. Held out my phone and said "I would like to use Apple Pay". Cashier looked at me as though I was speaking a foreign language and asked "What's Apple Pay?" Paid with plastic.


I have had similar experiences more often than not attempting to use Apple Pay in stores including several McDonald's locations and a Panera Bread. It shouldn't be the customer's responsibility to train retailers' employees. This is why I rarely try to use Apple Pay.

I try to use it everywhere. I love to educate them! Just yesterday, I used it at my grocery store, which just put ApplePay signs on the NFC. It still made me sign, though, and I told the cashier it shouldn't have because my thumbprint is all the proof needed. Not that she would run to the manager and tell them but now she knows. I've already emailed the manager about it but maybe their software can't tell the difference between a physical credit card or an Pay transaction. I don't know why they take a signature in any case. They never check it against my signature on the card and I'm not liable for fraud and don't need a way to check if the transaction was mine. Signing is a farce and I'll probably just scribble from now on vs giving a potential criminal my real signature.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Only chip and signature/chip and PIN is required, not NFC/Apple/Android Pay. That said, the majority of new credit card terminals support NFC.

Agreed. All that I look for is this to use ApplePay, rather than the ApplePay sticker:

 

[AngerDanger]

Is that your excuse for not voting in elections too? It's sad some people don't understand that a large group of people is comprised of many individual people making their voices heard.

Yep, that was exactly my point and not at all meant to be humorous (the notion that @cmChimera would literally be the only person advocating for Pay). It's sad how much of my stance you're willing to assume on my behalf; you'll just be talking to a straw man.

 

[Jason83]

"insufficient customer demand" was the biggest reason cited by merchants. This was followed by lack of data access granted through observing customer buying habits

My arse. It's the 2nd one, plain and simple

 

[laurim]

Yep, that was exactly my point and not at all meant to be humorous (the notion that @cmChimera would literally be the only person advocating for Pay). It's sad how much of my stance you're willing to assume on my behalf; you'll just be talking to yourself.

I suggest if you want to make a jokey or sarcastic post, you use an emoticon to show us what it is. We can't read your mind or know your typical sense of humor on the internet. Many people are dumb enough to say what you said in a serious way.

 

[JackANSI]

Anywhere that has the Contactless Payment logo on their POS or chip and pin machines. There is no such thing as being Apple Pay only, as long as it supports NFC contactless payment it will work.

Except at locations that have Apple Pay turned off...

Regional convenience store Sheetz (an MCX/CurrentC partner) will take my contactless master card at the pump, but the same card through Apple Pay is "unsupported".

 

[Solomani]

They'll get there. It won't be 2016 when we think of smartphones as a common a way to pay as cash or card, but we'll get there eventually.

If there was an incentive for merchants to encourage people to use it - for example, "If you use Apple Pay you can get 10% off your next purchase" - Awareness & usage would increase, I'm sure. Some shops here in the UK offer you money off if you sign up to their mailing list.

Yes, Apple has to PUSH for greater incentives for customers to want to use Apple Pay. Will many MacRumors tech nerds use it? Probably, because they already know how it works, where it works, and why it's beneficial. But the rest of the Unwashed Masses are not MR nerds. The majority that own Apple 6's are ordinary non-techies and airheads like Kim Kardashian, and they probably could NOT recite a single reason as to why they should use Apple Pay instead of just flashing their familiar credit card.

So therefore "Insufficient Customer Demand" is pretty much accurate in this article. Apple not only has to educate its customer base about the merits of Apple Pay… but Apple also needs to give them real-world incentives as to why they should use Apple Pay (e.g. "You get a 5% cash back reward on your XYZ Card every time you use Apple Pay during August/September etc").

 

[dwsolberg]

It is based on customer demand, but not in the way we usually think about it.

Insufficient demand to retailers = We want to track information about our customers through their credit cards. We also want to potentially create our own payment system that's cheaper than credit cards. We don't think we'll lose enough customers by not supporting this platform to make it worth losing out on customer data and a potential for CurrentC.

My guess is that a lot of people would love to have Apple Pay, but so far they're not changing their shopping habits. My guess is that this will change if more retailers get on board. If I shop at both Target and Walmart, and Target has ApplePay, I might start favoring Target. At this point, Walmart might lose enough sales to adopt it. The real risk to Apple Pay and Android Pay is if adoption starts slowing down. I wonder, though, about potential antitrust issues with the CurrentC initiative.

 

[MasterRyu2011]

The masses don't really care that they get to use their phone instead of their card. It's all the same. It'll be a while before things really change.

This. No matter what Apple, Google, CNN, and others say, mobile payment is the last thing on the general public's mind. Most people don't know or care about it.

 

[AngerDanger]

I suggest if you want to make a jokey or sarcastic post, you use an emoticon to show us what it is. We can't read your mind or know your typical sense of humor on the internet. Many people are dumb enough to say what you said in a serious way.

I think I'll stick with dealing with the few who respond sincerely as they come.

 

[flash84x]

Apple pay is neat, but paying with cash or plastic isn't a pain point and is a very efficient process.

It's about security too... But I am guessing you haven't had an Apple Pay experience with Apple Watch, it's super convenient.

 

[Wondercow]

I tried using Apple Pay at the drive thru of McDonald's. Held out my phone and said "I would like to use Apple Pay". Cashier looked at me as though I was speaking a foreign language and asked "What's Apple Pay?" Paid with plastic.

So don't say "Apple Pay" just say "credit card". Apple Pay = credit card; if the retailer accepts NFC credit cards they accept Apple Pay

 

[RangerOne]

So... greedy retailers wanting to spam their customers is a significant reason for not supporting Apple Pay?

That's the real reason, not a "lack of consumer interest." If consumers could reliably use Apple Pay at every point-of-sale terminal, and if retailers didn't impose stupid requirements like requiring me to sign after I've already authenticated via my device and thumbprint, everyone would be using NFC payment solutions like Apple Pay. If this were the case, I would never use a stupid swipe credit card again.

Shame on retailers for sticking their noses into our purchasing habits and wanting to spam us. I'm so tired of this invasion of privacy and impact on my time. Isn't it enough that I spend my hard-earned money at your establishment?

 

[RickInHouston]

Twenty-eight total retailers noted that lack of data access, and the inability to send customized advertisements to individual users like traditional credit cards allow, is a "key reason" they won't accept Apple Pay.

Eff You retailers. This is exactly WHY I like ApplePay. My data is NOT shared with you.

So having an ad that targets you is the deal breaker over an ad that has nothing to do with you. Why would you prefer an ad that you have no interest in than one you might? This makes not sense. Maybe one gets lost with the semantics of being 'targeted' as apposed to a less aggressive sounding word?