Rite Aid Reverses Course, Will Accept Apple Pay Starting August 15

[unplugme71]

It's way too early to say any of that has failed.

Also: Apple TV, Ping, MobileMe... that's all that's coming to mind right now. Those are things that you could have easily called "failures" when they were just 2 years old. Ping went on to definitely be a failure. Apple TV is still in limbo. MobileMe was succeeded by iCloud, which is a modest success, I think.

I don't think a device (Apple TV) is a failure. It's sold millions and has been selling for several years now. While the sales may not be as high as the iPhone, I think most of the delays on improvements are with the cable carriers, not Apple.

We use the Apple TV's at work for Air Play of presentations. I use a few at home for streaming movies, music, Air Play, etc.

Ping was definitely a failure. It was another social network "just because". I was surprised how well the social aspect of Apple Music has grown considering how Ping failed. I thought artists would be more hesitant to start over again. I wonder how much Apple engineers/designers worked with the top artists to create these fan pages.

MobileMe was a failure too. iCloud started out bumpy but has been solid for me at least. I also think Apple learned a lot about cloud usage and is expanding back on it. I see iCloud staying for the next few years before a big change.

 

[uwdude]

The real question is, will Walmart and Target go ahead with CurrentC or drop it? I know they wanted CurrentC very badly because it would harvest the customer and customer purchase data that they want, both for their own purposes and probably to sell. Maybe they'll go the Walgreen's route and have a loyalty card that gets scanned first.

 

[macnewbie91]

By my count this is the 2nd MCX partners to blink. I think they finally realized it for the dog that it is. Can't be too long before CVS & Walmart break the dam. Reminds me of the Circuit City Divx saga.

Dunkin, Kohls, Best Buy, Rite Aid, and others have blinked.

 

[MrNomNoms]

Haha !!

It took them long enough. They lost a lot of business from me, I drive a little bit further to Walgreens because of their stupid decision of not accepting Apple Pay.

And I say to all those who boycotted Rite Aid to continue doing so - maybe it would serve as a good incentive to other businesses to read the fine print and think it through before singing on the dotted line.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

As much as I'd like to see Walmart cave in and finally end this (if Walmart started taking Apple Pay before CurrentC launched it would probably be the final nail in the coffin)... They are the one force on other side of the Apple Pay fence that has the means and attitude to just keep chugging along without it (and not lose a single wink of sleep over it).

I'm not so sure. Even Walmart has to keep pace with reality. I mean they even caved on wages b/c it was hurting its ability to expand.

Also When a company is as big as WM it has meaningful economies of scale but consumers desire convenience as much as low price, sometimes more b/c time is valuable too.

 

[BruiserB]

And the reversals begin. I guess retailers are now seeing how many banks are allowing Apple Pay and how many Apple Pay users there are.

True, and with iOS 9 and iP6S and iP6S+ in the next month, fewer people will still have pre-NFC iPhones. And Android phones have had NFC even longer. GoogleWallet never got great traction but ApplePay has caused them to up their game along with Samsung going their own way with SamsungPay....so this may finally be the year for NFC payments to take hold.

Funny all the people who say using a card is just fine. I bet in 5 years we'll look at someone using a card with the same consternation that we view someone ahead of us in line writing a check today!

 

[mdhwoods]

I certainly use ApplePay when I can. I also don't buy things (except my prescriptions) at Rite Aid. I do go out of my way to go to a store that supports ApplePay.

I do find it interesting that some stores are not set up conveniently for using ApplePay. Subway sucks, Jamba Juice excels.

Lol, Subway is a dream compared to McDonalds. I get a laugh every time i use it there and the cashier has to drag the entire terminal out the window just so I can pay with my phone.

 

[bsolar]

It took them long enough. They lost a lot of business from me, I drive a little bit further to Walgreens because of their stupid decision of not accepting Apple Pay.

But it also makes sense to "reward" them with your business now that they changed policy. Think carrot and stick. On top of that they were likely still bound by the 3-years exclusivity CurrentC agreement they signed long before Apple Pay happened.

 

[macnewbie91]

Lol, Subway is a dream compared to McDonalds. I get a laugh every time i use it there and the cashier has to drag the entire terminal out the window just so I can pay with my phone.

You never thought about going inside where it'd be easier, and so they don't have to place the entire terminal out the window? I guess you should think a little more before you decide to do stuff.

 

[iMacDragon]

I'm not so sure. Even Walmart has to keep pace with reality. I mean they even caved on wages b/c it was hurting its ability to expand.

Also When a company is as big as WM it has meaningful economies of scale but consumers desire convenience as much as low price, sometimes more b/c time is valuable too.

Just as a side note, Walmarts UK business ( ASDA ) has no problem taking contactless cards, including apple pay.

 

[BruiserB]

You never thought about going inside where it'd be easier, and so they don't have to place the entire terminal out the window? I guess you should think a little more before you decide to do stuff.

To be fair, you would think McDonalds would be smart enough to mount an NFC reader in the sill of the drive-thru window. I remember in the introduction to ApplePay presentation they showed a McDonalds cashier passing a terminal out the window and I thought that was pretty ridiculous. If they're going to take NFC payments, they should really be prepared to accept it just as easily at the drive-thru as inside the restaurant. Telling a customer they should go inside if they want to use this type of payment doesn't make much sense.

 

[BillyTrimble]

Haha !!

It took them long enough. They lost a lot of business from me, I drive a little bit further to Walgreens because of their stupid decision of not accepting Apple Pay.

Same here. I switched to Walgreens. A litter bit further from home, but a much better store. I'll never go back to Rite Aid.

 

[BillyTrimble]

Hopefully their implementation is better than Walgreens' where I'm prompted for a pin, change option, email address, blood type and whatever other questions the terminal asks after accepting my Apple payment. I think that they missed the whole point about Apple Pay is supposed to be quick and easy...

Walgreens is as quick and easy as any other apple pay store I frequent.

 

[Trius]

How's that CurrentC working out?

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Haha !!

It took them long enough. They lost a lot of business from me, I drive a little bit further to Walgreens because of their stupid decision of not accepting Apple Pay.

Yeah, the store down the street doesn't have a reserved parking space for me so because of that stupid decision I'm taking my business elsewhere!

No wonder governments can't agree on the color of the sky when people avoid stores because it's WAY too much effort to pull out a fracking credit card in 2015 to keep going to a store one likes. They must be punished for picking the wrong credit company! Stocks change hands like a gambling house and loyalties change with the tide. People live in their parents houses their entire lives and demand $15 an hour to flip a burger so they don't have to study and work to get a real job. They text while driving because the immediate satisfaction of reading their email is more important than someone else's life. They want to spend their entire lives smoking ganja and having fun with their friends. Meanwhile, elsewhere people are killing others based on different opinions and beliefs or using it as an excuse to get power, although when I think about it, there's really not much difference there either. It's all partisan splits to the extreme. It's all about me Me ME. It's my way or the highway! Yeah, I'm pretty sure that Satan's name in English is really EGO.

 

[macnewbie91]

To be fair, you would think McDonalds would be smart enough to mount an NFC reader in the sill of the drive-thru window. I remember in the introduction to ApplePay presentation they showed a McDonalds cashier passing a terminal out the window and I thought that was pretty ridiculous. If they're going to take NFC payments, they should really be prepared to accept it just as easily at the drive-thru as inside the restaurant. Telling a customer they should go inside if they want to use this type of payment doesn't make much sense.

If you're in my neck of the woods, the winter times would ruin the card readers or the snow and ice would cover them. I'm not sure how well those readers would work under those conditions. You are right though, and I agree, outside of the weather, those readers SHOULD be easily accessible from your car.

 

[HenryDJP]

Well, unless you pre-order, you realistically won't get your hands on a 6S until October/November anyway.

That's a "possibility" but you have to keep in mind that the reason the 6/6Plus were so heavily backordered was because they were Apple's first large screened phone since the first iPhone, so that was a revolutionary change for them. The 6S will be an incremental upgrade. I can see the iPhone 7 being a major upgrade that will cause a ton of preorders though.

 

[xmichaelp]

Can we all please just agree that Apple Pay is a total failure just like the new macbook air, apple watch, apple music.... Pretty much everything new created/announced under Tim Cooks awful management. I can't wait until he is canned.

I really need to stop reading comments on front page news. Just utter trash.

 

[rugmankc]

Haha !!

It took them long enough. They lost a lot of business from me, I drive a little bit further to Walgreens because of their stupid decision of not accepting Apple Pay.

Same here for CVS. Walgreens is right across the street. CVS never responded to my emails. I do a lot at Target too. Right now they just do my LoopPay, but they will be online with AP soon.

 

[rugmankc]

Where is MCX exactly? Looks like its DOA...
Also, do people seriously not shop at CVS or rite aide because of this? grow up seriously.

EDIT: Ok that was a tad harsh, but I dont see why i would drive further and waste gas to use apple pay..

When it is right across the street, I do. And most of what I got at CVS, I can get at Target--

 

[nouveau-apple]

TOO LATE! I don't shop there anymore.

Same goes for CVS!! Bye-bye.

 

[Arcus]

Great. Now if applepay will take my TD card AGAIN I might be able to start to use it. It still thinks its unsupported even though I used it before and it was wiped after an update.

 

[megfilmworks]

It never makes sense for a business to not accept payment...

 

[unplugme71]

True, and with iOS 9 and iP6S and iP6S+ in the next month, fewer people will still have pre-NFC iPhones. And Android phones have had NFC even longer. GoogleWallet never got great traction but ApplePay has caused them to up their game along with Samsung going their own way with SamsungPay....so this may finally be the year for NFC payments to take hold.

Funny all the people who say using a card is just fine. I bet in 5 years we'll look at someone using a card with the same consternation that we view someone ahead of us in line writing a check today!

My only issue with Apple Pay is there will always be someone who doesn't accept it. So the need to carry a wallet will still happen. I don't want to be stuck in the middle of no where and the cab driver only accepts cash or physical credit cards.

While its nice to have in retail stores, I don't think I would ever be caught without my physical wallet. And I can see restaurants supporting this by either bringing a device to your table or as you walk out.

 

[marco114]

Too late, I already switched to Walgreens. They were happy to accept my ApplePay.