Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Since ApplePay assigns a device account number instead of your actual credit card number, Target would have no way to associate a RedCard ApplePay purchase with the card owner.

Why not? They are the card issuer, so they would know the device access number (DAN).
 
  • Like
Reactions: coolman13355
Exactly. People get seduced by the 5% discount. But Target profits significantly from being able to track and commoditize absolutely every purchase, not only for themselves but presumably that they can also sell to data brokers.

I did the math a year or two ago and decided that having a RedCard just wasn't useful to me as opposed to the credit cards I use to rake up frequent flyer points. This just adds to my justification for not needing it.
 
They obviously have the ability to do scanned barcode payments, and still get all their purchase data they want. What they really need to do is take a Starbucks approach, and allow us to add the RedCard as a barcode card to our Apple Wallet. That way we can still access it quickly through Wallet. It's definitely not as good as actual support for RedCard Apple Pay, but let's be honest, I really don't see that happening, especially since they lose out on all that data.
 
Target in the U.S. has zero affiliation with Target Australia. Two completely different companies, despite having a nearly identical logo. (I just learned about Target Australia today.)

It's like Kmart in Australia. Which apparently isn't a god awful place
[doublepost=1548273285][/doublepost]
I did the math a year or two ago and decided that having a RedCard just wasn't useful to me as opposed to the credit cards I use to rake up frequent flyer points. This just adds to my justification for not needing it.

How did you do your math? what kind of returns are you getting from your CCs thats better than a 5% discount?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joe Rossignol
Translation: red card is about collecting user purchasing data?

As both the retailer and the card issuer of the Redcard there is nothing that would prevent Target from getting any less data than they would if you were just using the Redcard normally without Apple Pay. The retail side knows a transaction amount, what was purchased, and location. The credit side knows the card holder, the purchase amount and the location. It’s pretty easy to marry up who you are and what you bought with that information.
 
Frustrating. Also frustrating is Best Buy doesn't allow Apple Pay on it's Rewards card either yet. :mad::mad::mad:
 
Can't they just add the barcode from the App?
When Cartwheel was separate from the Target app, users could add their Cartwheel barcode to Wallet. When they rolled Cartwheel into the Target app, customers lost that ability.

They obviously have the ability to do scanned barcode payments, and still get all their purchase data they want. What they really need to do is take a Starbucks approach, and allow us to add the RedCard as a barcode card to our Apple Wallet. That way we can still access it quickly through Wallet. It's definitely not as good as actual support for RedCard Apple Pay, but let's be honest, I really don't see that happening, especially since they lose out on all that data.
That would be super nice but the difference between Starbucks and the Cartwheel linked RedCard is the difference between a gift card and debit card. I’m assuming the Apple TOS has something preventing businesses from adding barcodes to Wallet that directly debit an account.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TimSHB
Exactly. People get seduced by the 5% discount. But Target profits significantly from being able to track and commoditize absolutely every purchase, not only for themselves but presumably that they can also sell to data brokers. Conversely, Apple Pay is designed with the user's privacy in mind. As I understand it, for each transaction a unique payment number is generated and your personal information and credit card number is not shared with the merchant. Great for privacy and especially for security. I don't know if Apple has negotiated with merchants who have store cards to allow them to pass along data in these scenarios. I'm inclined to say they have not, especially in light of Target's stance in this situation.

spot on. Read their privacy policy *shocking* I know.
[doublepost=1548273932][/doublepost]
Can't they do something like Walgreens with their loyalty card? It is linked to a log in with user data and is pretty seamless with apple pay. Just tap and it goes first then a second tap to pay. They get loyalty info I get a reward.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stryder541
Can't they just add the barcode from the App?
No because it’s a constantly changing barcode for “security”
[doublepost=1548274198][/doublepost]
It's like Kmart in Australia. Which apparently isn't a god awful place
[doublepost=1548273285][/doublepost]

How did you do your math? what kind of returns are you getting from your CCs thats better than a 5% discount?
KMart Australia was one and the same at one point. Same with Safeway now Woolworth’s
 
Boy Target, you are late to party and still striving to keep customers from coming back. Schlock outfit.

Family hasn’t shopped Target or Kroger since Apple Pay launched, been going to Meijer and Costco instead.
[doublepost=1548274410][/doublepost]
I confirm my Target shopping won't include using a red card. I'll stick with a cashback card via Apple Pay.
Costco’s Visa is a good one. Maybe best.
 
Since ApplePay assigns a device account number instead of your actual credit card number, Target would have no way to associate a RedCard ApplePay purchase with the card owner.

If the ApplyPay transaction never sends any kind of receipt or transaction number for correlation of the actual purchase to the card processor then that is definitely true. The issuing bank would see a Target transaction associated with the RedCard account but then would not be able to trace back to what was purchased. For this reason I can't see RedCard ever being available through ApplePay. The same reason why many loyalty related credit cards are not available. The Toy's R Us card (RIP) was another example.
[doublepost=1548275756][/doublepost]
Target would have the data regardless as they already have a deal with TD Bank (supplier of the red cards). They already connect the details of the purchase with you via the transaction. And the same thing would happen behind the scenes if you used Apple Pay. It's true that Apple isn't providing Target with new information, but if you shop regularly--even if not using a Red Card--Target doesn't need any details from apple as it has already has built a file on you that they're just updating every time you check out.

I don't believe that's true. ApplePay likely does not transmit anything to the bank regarding the transaction, thus not providing any correlation whatsoever to the actual Target transaction. If that were true, I believe Target would not have reservations to include the card, nor others with their loyalty cards. Since Apple touts high security and privacy when using ApplePay, I have to assume that ApplePay would defeat RedCard tracking.
 
Last edited:
Yes. I think what you write is correct. And in the future this is the issue that needs to become more clear. People are giving themselves away to data brokers and having their life stolen by the like of Android. I'm always surprised that people don't consider this when telling me how well their 'google voice' or whatever works and can tell them things and run their life. And maybe people don't care.

Your cellphone provider has all your info, they know where you about, they know who you called. Your bank has your info, they know what you spent on and how much you spend. Your ISP knows what you have been watching and browsing.

Seriously, if you are such paranoid by privacy, you better go offline. The last thing I care is some corporate knows what I have been shearching for. I have so much other things to worry about.
 
  • Like
Reactions: macfacts
Most likely because of the larger transaction fees charged if the red card is handled via Apple pay.
Isn't the fee just 0.15%? I realize 0.15% add up when you are talking about around $70B in annual revenue ($105M paid to Apple, assuming 100% of the transactions were done by Apple Pay). But I don't think the fee is the factor here.
 
Exactly. People get seduced by the 5% discount. But Target profits significantly from being able to track and commoditize absolutely every purchase, not only for themselves but presumably that they can also sell to data brokers. Conversely, Apple Pay is designed with the user's privacy in mind. As I understand it, for each transaction a unique payment number is generated and your personal information and credit card number is not shared with the merchant. Great for privacy and especially for security. I don't know if Apple has negotiated with merchants who have store cards to allow them to pass along data in these scenarios. I'm inclined to say they have not, especially in light of Target's stance in this situation.
I honestly don't give a crap that Target knows what I buy (and ultimately, what I don't buy) because I usually buy the cheapest version of whatever it is they have, and if they target (haaaa pun) me with coupons, then all the better. I hate to see stuff I regularly buy/use get discontinued. If they look at the data and go "hey, this product is selling pretty well" then I'm cool with this.

It's when I'm browsing and facebook slams me with repeated ads for crap I've googled in the past 2 days, that I get annoyed to see it over and over.

I've yet to have an issue with Target besides the fact that I have to carry the card and I sometimes forget, and their ability to ship things like soap, shampoo, and stuff without it breaking and spilling over my entire purchase, is crap. In the long run, since I bought it with the red card that pulls from my debit, I can put in a request and get my refund quite fast.
 
As I understand it, for each transaction a unique payment number is generated and your personal information and credit card number is not shared with the merchant. Great for privacy and especially for security. I don't know if Apple has negotiated with merchants who have store cards to allow them to pass along data in these scenarios. I'm inclined to say they have not, especially in light of Target's stance in this situation.

For a store charge card where the retailer has access to receipts and charges to the card, it wouldn't take much for a correlation of the location/time/total against the receipts for a store to identify who the person was and what was purchased even if the POS doesn't see the same card number on each transaction.

Obviously, a different case than the EMV or ApplePay where card number should be hidden from the retailer POS and therefore can't correlate multiple purchases against the same card/person.
[doublepost=1548278900][/doublepost]
I don't believe that's true. ApplePay likely does not transmit anything to the bank regarding the transaction, thus not providing any correlation whatsoever to the actual Target transaction. If that were true, I believe Target would not have reservations to include the card, nor others with their loyalty cards. Since Apple touts high security and privacy when using ApplePay, I have to assume that ApplePay would defeat RedCard tracking.

You only need store id, time and purchase amount. All of that would need to go to the charge account and then can be correlated against store receipts. Each store and sub locations within a store (Starbucks, CVS Pharmacy, regular cashier) all use the same EMV terminal, but probably have a different merchant id for balancing accounts.

There are probably just more contractual negotiations on-going.
 
You only need store id, time and purchase amount.

Clearly time and purchase amount are part of the transaction data. If, however, a third value is also present, such as the store id as you mention or a logical terminal id, then I agree the correlation can be made. My hope would be that the third data point is missing for greater privacy.
 
It’s likely a technical issue that could not be resolved at roll out. It’s usually better to do one integration at a time with so many stores. Walgreen is a perfect example. It took them several years before they integrated their loyalty and discount system into Apple Pay. In fact they quietly moved forward. First they implemented notifications that surfaced the card when you were in the store 1-2 years ago, then allowing the cashier to scan a barcode shown on your phone. In December they finally figured out the holy grail, checking in to loyalty with Apple Pay. I noticed the option to pull up the barcode was gone, but it was asking for my fingerprint as I held my phone near the terminal. It just worked, very very cool, but unexpected. I think this is why they said at this time, since loyalty and discounts involves at least one but sometime multiple 3rd parties and website integration, it was not possible at toll out.
 
If the ApplyPay transaction never sends any kind of receipt or transaction number for correlation of the actual purchase to the card processor then that is definitely true. The issuing bank would see a Target transaction associated with the RedCard account but then would not be able to trace back to what was purchased. For this reason I can't see RedCard ever being available through ApplePay. The same reason why many loyalty related credit cards are not available. The Toy's R Us card (RIP) was another example.
[doublepost=1548275756][/doublepost]

I don't believe that's true. ApplePay likely does not transmit anything to the bank regarding the transaction, thus not providing any correlation whatsoever to the actual Target transaction. If that were true, I believe Target would not have reservations to include the card, nor others with their loyalty cards. Since Apple touts high security and privacy when using ApplePay, I have to assume that ApplePay would defeat RedCard tracking.
Not entirely true.
A merchant "can" send details of a transaction with the card processing data. The card processor sends the info to the card issuer for billing purposes.
With Target being the merchant and the issuer, capturing this data is pretty simple. I suspect they have to rewrite some of the backend processing to accommodate Apple Pay.
My bet is RedCard will get Apple Pay support. Target would be dumb to miss out on the revenue potential.
 
Why not? They are the card issuer, so they would know the device access number (DAN).
The transaction number is an encrypted number between your phone and point of sale. It immediately is deleted once the transaction is made. There is no number for the card issuer to track. This why it is secure.
 
Bummer! I use my red card all the time. It would be helpful to not have to carry an extra card around for shopping only at Target though :<

Use the Target app. It has the cards in there and all you do is scan the barcode. Not as convenient as Apple Pay but more convenient than carrying around another physical card
 
  • Like
Reactions: dontwalkhand
Boy Target, you are late to party and still striving to keep customers from coming back. Schlock outfit.

Family hasn’t shopped Target or Kroger since Apple Pay launched, been going to Meijer and Costco instead.
[doublepost=1548274410][/doublepost]
Costco’s Visa is a good one. Maybe best.
Good news, the Costco Visa is also a contactless card, which is completely tappable at Target.
 
  • Like
Reactions: coolman13355
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.