Save Mart Supermarkets Adds Apple Pay as Bank of America Approaches 800K Customers On Board

[MacRumors]

Apple Pay was introduced last year during Apple's September iPhone event and debuted alongside iOS 8.1. Months after launch, the service continues to expand with two major announcements today that mark the further expansion of the mobile payments service into regional supermarket chains and the continued adoption by consumers.

Starting today, California supermarket chain Save Mart Supermarkets is rolling out Apple Pay to all 217 Northern California and Nevada stores it operates under the Save Mart, S-Mart Foods, Lucky, Maxx Value Foods, and FoodMaxx brands. Save Mart Co-President & Chief Strategy and Branding Officer Nicole Piccinini Pesco said that the grocery store chain is adding Apple Pay for the "benefit and convenience" of their customers, adding that Apple Pay will "transform the shopping experience for our customers".

While Apple Pay continues to expand to new retailers, consumer interest in the mobile payment service also remains strong. As part of its Q4 2014 earnings report, Bank of America today announced that almost 800,000 customers have enrolled in Apple Pay and have added approximately 1.1 million cards to the service since it launched in October 2014.

The number of mobile banking customers increased 15 percent from the year-ago quarter to 16.5 million users, and 12 percent of deposit transactions by customers were done through mobile, compared to 9 percent in the year-ago quarter. Since the introduction of Apple Pay(TM) in October, nearly 800,000 customers have enrolled in the service, adding approximately 1.1 million cards.

Bank of America was a launch partner for Apple Pay, and the company has continued to promote Apple Pay since that time, releasing advertisements showcasing the convenience of using Apple's mobile payments service with a Bank of America credit card.

Article Link: Save Mart Supermarkets Adds Apple Pay as Bank of America Approaches 800K Customers On Board

 

[saving107]

Up until now Home Depot was the only place I used Apple Pay routinely, glad I can add another retailer to the list.

 

[2457282]

Whole Foods, Dwaine's, and Men's warehouse were the only places that have accepted it so far and I try it everywhere. There is a long way to go, bu I am happy to see the continual roll out -- even if it slow. BTW, has CurrentC rolled out anywhere yet -- hahahaha, NO.

 

[DocPenguin]

Great, a retailer operating in a single region of a single country now supports Apple Pay. This is irrelevant to 90+% of your readers. I ask again, why is this front page news?

 

[Jeff Meredith]

Excellent News

Whole Foods, Dwaine's, and Men's warehouse were the only places that have accepted it so far and I try it everywhere. There is a long way to go, bu I am happy to see the continual roll out -- even if it slow. BTW, has CurrentC rolled out anywhere yet -- hahahaha, NO.

CurrentC you mean invisiware. I think they're trying it out in Area 51.

I have used Apple Pay at many different stores and in lots of Apps. This announcement coupled with Chevron's and Albertson's (Safeway) is a big win for all of California.

With this announcement plus Sprouts, Winn-Dixie, regional grocers like Reasors, PPC, lots of restaurants etc. we are seeing the loss of NFC terminals because of the MCX (Current C) members overcome.

If the president really wants to do an initiative to help combat security breaches he would have the MCX members turn on their NFC now. He would call their bluff which is now so exposed.

Does anybody, youtube, redtube, anywhere have any video of a live Current C setup/ usage? I'm tired of looking at cartoons.

 

[scottwaugh]

Great, a retailer operating in a single region of a single country now supports Apple Pay. This is irrelevant to 90+% of your readers. I ask again, why is this front page news?

Well if it was for ApplePay in like Canada or the U.K. (which will be coming soon) where wireless payment is the default at retailers this wouldn't be a big deal...but here in the U.S. where the biggest national place to use it is McDonald's - you've got these folks who've bought these really expensive phones and one of the biggest states has a grocery chain that will take it...its totally big news (but it points to how sad the situation is for ApplePay users in the U.S.) - as another commenter pointed out this increased his places he could use it by 25%.

It's going to be serious downer for U.S. users (myself included) when ApplePay is rolled out in Canada and the U.K. etc. and they have to hear how easy and convenient it is in all these other countries...

 

[Jeff Meredith]

Canadian Adoption will be good thing

Well if it was for ApplePay in like Canada or the U.K. (which will be coming soon) where wireless payment is the default at retailers this wouldn't be a big deal...but here in the U.S. where the biggest national place to use it is McDonald's - you've got these folks who've bought these really expensive phones and one of the biggest states has a grocery chain that will take it...its totally big news (but it points to how sad the situation is for ApplePay users in the U.S.) - as another commenter pointed out this increased his places he could use it by 25%.

It's going to be serious downer for U.S. users (myself included) when ApplePay is rolled out in Canada and the U.K. etc. and they have to hear how easy and convenient it is in all these other countries...

I look forward to it being in Canada and the UK and Netherlands which might beat them. And Australia also has huge NFC adoption.

We have excellent bank and credit union coverage that is getting better. Merchant coverage is definitely growing and is being driven by competition.

We border Canada and there are lots of border cities and companies that do business in both places. That will spur adoption in the US. There are tourist areas in the US that get lots of Canadian and foreign visitors. Again spurring adoption.

There are lots of great reasons to visit Canada and the UK. Knowing I can use Apple Pay at more and more places is a good thing.

So yes, Canadian adoption will expose our growing merchant adoption but bring it on.

 

[Rogifan]

Ok come on Target. Get with it.

 

[DocPenguin]

Well if it was for ApplePay in like Canada or the U.K. (which will be coming soon) where wireless payment is the default at retailers this wouldn't be a big deal...but here in the U.S. where the biggest national place to use it is McDonald's - you've got these folks who've bought these really expensive phones and one of the biggest states has a grocery chain that will take it...its totally big news (but it points to how sad the situation is for ApplePay users in the U.S.) - as another commenter pointed out this increased his places he could use it by 25%.

It's going to be serious downer for U.S. users (myself included) when ApplePay is rolled out in Canada and the U.K. etc. and they have to hear how easy and convenient it is in all these other countries...

Here in New York City, a lot of retailers support it simply because they've supported NFC for a long time. This includes the two local supermarket chains, and most of our taxis. So I guess, like in other countries, it's just not that big of a deal for us.

It still begs the question, "who is MacRumor's target audience?", because this is still irrelevant to most readers. Unless you change the site's tagline to "news and rumors the folks in and around California care about."

 

[Apple_Robert]

I wish Kroger and Publix would accept Apple Pay.

 

[technopimp]

Can't these <Some Store> now accepting ApplePay be on the sidebar? Do they all really need a main front page article?

 

[WildCowboy]

Great, a retailer operating in a single region of a single country now supports Apple Pay. This is irrelevant to 90+% of your readers. I ask again, why is this front page news?

Can't these <Some Store> now accepting ApplePay be on the sidebar? Do they all really need a main front page article?

If it was just the Save Mart news, then yes it would have been a blog post (if we even covered it all). But we thought with the BofA adoption numbers included it was a bit more interesting.

 

[BornAgainMac]

I wish Kroger and Publix would accept Apple Pay.

They are waiting on that CurrentC Network. Once that fails, they will probably switch to Apple Pay.

 

[ptb42]

If it was just the Save Mart news, then yes it would have been a blog post (if we even covered it all). But we thought with the BofA adoption numbers included it was a bit more interesting.

I agree, the BofA info was interesting. I'd like to see similar data from the other major banks, like Wells Fargo and Chase.

But, the article should have led with that, and put the Save Mart info as an afternote.

 

[Derekuda]

Just wait until NFC gets hacked big time and people are hemorrhaging money out of their accounts. I still think NFC used for anything involved with money is a nightmare waiting to happen. Cash is still the easiest in my book.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Just wait until NFC gets hacked big time and people are hemorrhaging money out of their accounts. I still think NFC used for anything involved with money is a nightmare waiting to happen. Cash is still the easiest in my book.

If a person uses Apple Pay, his or her account information is not shared with the store. Thus, no money leaving my account, should the store in question get hacked (like Target did).

----------

They are waiting on that CurrentC Network. Once that fails, they will probably switch to Apple Pay.

Hopefully, it will won't take long for that to happen.

Cue Darth Vader voice over: "I find your (stores in question) lack of faith disturbing."

 

[Mike49]

If it was just the Save Mart news, then yes it would have been a blog post (if we even covered it all). But we thought with the BofA adoption numbers included it was a bit more interesting.

All the negativity throughout these forums notwithstanding, I think Macrumors rocks. Thank you for the explanation.

 

[sillypooh]

Bring that damn Apple Pay to my country!

 

[avanpelt]

I wish Kroger and Publix would accept Apple Pay.

I agree 100%. Unfortunately, Publix is backing CurrentC as of now and I reached out to Kroger on Twitter a few months ago to ask what the status was of rolling out Apple Pay and they said they currently have no plans to support it.

 

[Robert.Walter]

I'm using Pay here in Switzerland on a daily basis.

It's the bees' knees!

And by all means please ignore the grumpy penguins and keep us informed of the progress of this system. (I learned long ago that it IS possible to scroll past articles that don't interest me.)

 

[class77]

I agree 100%. Unfortunately, Publix is backing CurrentC as of now and I reached out to Kroger on Twitter a few months ago to ask what the status was of rolling out Apple Pay and they said they currently have no plans to support it.

That's extremely disappointing

 

[tmiw]

Well if it was for ApplePay in like Canada or the U.K. (which will be coming soon) where wireless payment is the default at retailers this wouldn't be a big deal...but here in the U.S. where the biggest national place to use it is McDonald's - you've got these folks who've bought these really expensive phones and one of the biggest states has a grocery chain that will take it...its totally big news (but it points to how sad the situation is for ApplePay users in the U.S.) - as another commenter pointed out this increased his places he could use it by 25%.

It's going to be serious downer for U.S. users (myself included) when ApplePay is rolled out in Canada and the U.K. etc. and they have to hear how easy and convenient it is in all these other countries...

IMO as long as chip and signature is a thing here NFC won't ever be nearly as popular as it is elsewhere:

• Signature isn't required for chip and signature under $25/50 while PIN is always required, so it's not going to be annoying enough to get most people to use NFC instead.
• It gives merchants an excuse to cheap out and not have customer accessible terminals, especially if they do business in a non-tourist or border area. I've already run into a couple of places that supposedly support NFC according to MasterCard's website but there was no way I was going to be able to tap my phone there.

Apple Pay will still be the most successful NFC initiative this country's ever had though.

 

[Jeff Meredith]

Keep the Announcements Coming

If it was just the Save Mart news, then yes it would have been a blog post (if we even covered it all). But we thought with the BofA adoption numbers included it was a bit more interesting.

I would upvote to keep the Apple Pay announcements coming. Yes, you did a proper aggregation with Bank of America and Save Mart.

One of the drivers driving Apple Pay(+GoogleWallet) is competition. And a major grocer like SaveMart along with Winn-Dixie, Albertsons/Safeway (in progress) plus Whole Foods and Sprouts is putting pressure on the Merchant Exchange Consortium. Another driver is the necessity to upgrade terminals for Chip and Pin capabilities.

I am jealous of those who live in New York City or other places where Apple Pay is so ubiquitous or in other countries. For the rest of us, this is big news. If you don't believe this look at the links on Twitter.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Men's warehouse were the only places that have accepted it so far and I try it everywhere.

Really? I was just at one last week and they didn't have NFC terminals (I looked for the symbol, because they did have chip and pin terminals, which seemed really odd in the US where AFAIK there's no banks issuing that type of card.)

 

[tliede20]

CurrentC

They are waiting on that CurrentC Network. Once that fails, they will probably switch to Apple Pay.

I feel like at this point CurrentC (in a harmful way to themselves) are holding back on CurrentC as long as they can to try and harm ApplePay's rollout. The longer they keep (kroger, publix, target, etc) in their grasp with their you can't switch or have both or we will punish you rules.... the longer they can make the rollout on ApplePay's side look bad. I've used ApplePay at the following:

Men's Warehouse
Some little Steakbowl Restaurant (it was awful)
Panera
McDonalds
Macy's
Walgreens
Subway (the employee clearly didn't understand ApplePay)

Trying to think if there was anywhere else I've used it.

I really want Chevron / Shell to have it, I know Chevron has a slow roll out for it....and Shell is CurrentC (sigh). But that plus Kroger/Ralphs.... I would kind of be set for all the main places I shop on a regular basis.

Here's the hoping 2015 brings that..... I'm also hoping that ApplePay 2.0 rolls out with a merging of loyalty cards and what not, the rumors flew that Apple was going to release that early, but I guess that was a dead rumor waiting to happen.