Walgreens Gearing Up for Apple Pay-Linked Loyalty Rewards Cards

[JAT]

Over time, you can save quite a bit of money. You get points for filling a prescription, and if you let them build up, you can get quite a bit back.

However, we don't shop at Walgreen's as much these days, because my insurance company requires that "maintenance" prescriptions must be 90-day, and filled either via mail order or at a CVS. But, CVS has their own rewards program.

I prefer getting the discount right in the original price. Rather than as a reduction in more overpriced items next time.

 

[tmiw]

I have a program called cardpeek installed on my laptop as well as a NFC reader, so I attempted to see how the loyalty data's transmitted. Apparently the iPhone will buzz and tell you that the "reader is expecting payment" if you use EMV mode to scan. Tried some other stuff and couldn't get anything to read at all.

Any ideas as for other stuff I can try?

 

[iJon]

This is good news but I just find it faster to type in my phone number at Walgreens to link up my account. Now if Apple could come out with a way where ApplePay detects I'm at Walgreens, and sends my loyalty information and credit card information at the same time, then that would be awesome.

Either way, step in the right direction.

 

[gsmornot]

I have not shopped Walgreen's much (or any store like it) but the few times I have I had them scan my card in Wallet. I still have zero points. I'm not sure if I have done something wrong or if the general items I have bought do not give me points. Off the top of my head Tylenol and Sun Screen, no prescriptions. I get those somewhere else.

 

[LotusLord]

Sweet. The barcode scanning aspect of it is a pain in the butt at Walgreens (which coincidentally is the only place I've been able to use ApplePay).

 

[kybldmstr]

I got mine to work. Funny that the walgreens app still says "Add to Passbook"

 

[tmiw]

I got mine to work. Funny that the walgreens app still says "Add to Passbook"

The store was actually able to read it?

 

[musicpenguy]

I had to re-add my card to Wallet for it to get the new fancy NFC version - right away it added to my watch as a payment option.

Also curious by this screen - does this mean it'll send my payment and rewards card into with one tap/authentication?

Also any word on MyPanera or DD Perks?

 

[Small White Car]

Gross.

One of Apple Pay's biggest features is how it randomizes your identity and makes it impossible for retailers to track you. In theory, no more of this:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmir...teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/

But good news for retailers! They can get around this by bribing their customers with price cuts. That was close, people almost had privacy! Good thing that was avoided.

But while I expect the stores to try this, what frustrates me more is the overwhelming support from consumers as witnessed in this very thread.

Nice try, Apple, but people don't actually want privacy. It was a good effort but just so long as they can save a few pennies on soap and candy they'll hand it all right back to you.

 

[tmiw]

Gross.

One of Apple Pay's biggest features is how it randomizes your identity and makes it impossible for retailers to track you. In theory, no more of this:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmir...teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/

But good news for retailers! They can get around this by bribing their customers with price cuts. That was close, people almost had privacy! Good thing that was avoided.

But while I expect the stores to try this, what frustrates me more is the overwhelming support from consumers as witnessed in this very thread.

Nice try, Apple, but people don't actually want privacy. It was a good effort but just so long as they can save a few pennies on soap and candy they'll hand it all right back to you.

At least you have to give consent. Target (and other stores) were doing it without anyone's consent, which IMO is much worse.

 

[sikachu]

Also any word on MyPanera or DD Perks?

I wouldn't hold my breath for DD perk ... given (a) they don't even take Apple Pay yet (at least in Boston), and (b) Their app looks stretched out on iPhone 6 ...

 

[Small White Car]

At least you have to give consent. Target (and other stores) were doing it without anyone's consent, which IMO is much worse.

Yeah. I'm not scared of this, personally. Just saddened to see wasted potential slip away.

 

[tmiw]

Yeah. I'm not scared of this, personally. Just saddened to see wasted potential slip away.

Honestly, Apple Pay would definitely be a failure in the US without it. A lot of retailers really want to track people and if there's no way to do so, they will all keep NFC turned off. Hell, they're already doing that even though Apple and Google have that option now because they'd rather do it without consent if possible.

 

[kappy94]

I had to remove the pass, then re-added the pass from Walgreens app. My old pass had white background, and new pass now have Walgreens-blue background.



In theory, you will be able to just scan the card by tapping it to the NFC terminal (the blue thingie) and not having to bring up the card in wallet, etc etc.

it's the difference between having to scan a barcode off a watch or phone and it working with Touch ID and NFC. It's just more streamlined and it should hopefully work automatically when you pay.

 

[kappy94]

One of the Apple Pay features touted with iOS 9 was support for new types of cards including store-branded credit cards and loyalty rewards cards from retailers. Just yesterday, department store chain Kohl's became the first retailer to launch Apple Pay support for its store-branded credit card, and it now appears Walgreens is preparing to launch support for its Balance Rewards loyalty rewards program.

Balance Rewards members have for some time been able to sign into their rewards accounts using the Walgreens iOS app and add their Balance Rewards numbers to the centralized Passbook/Wallet app. From there, it's been easy for users to bring up the Walgreens pass to display barcodes that can be scanned at checkout to make sure they receive rewards credit for their purchases.

As noted by several MacRumors readers, however, the Balance Rewards card in the Wallet app is now showing up as supporting NFC via Apple Pay. Double-clicking the iPhone home button to bring up Apple Pay cards offers access to the Balance Rewards pass, where the user is then prompted to authenticate with Touch ID and hold the phone near the NFC terminal at the register. Users can also opt to show a barcode for scanning if needed.

While the interface on the iPhone shows all signs of being ready to use Walgreens Balance Rewards via NFC, we and several readers have been unable to successfully use it in-store, as it appears Walgreens' payment terminals have yet to be upgraded to accept Balance Rewards using that method. In our testing yesterday, attempting to transmit a Balance Rewards card to the terminal via Apple Pay simply generated an error on the terminal noting the system was requesting a method of payment.

Walgreens Balance Rewards is also showing up as an Apple Pay option on the Apple Watch. Double clicking the side button of the Apple Watch to bring up available payment cards shows a Walgreens card that appears ready to use via NFC but similarly is not accepted by the terminal.

A barcode option as seen when the Walgreens pass is accessed directly from the Apple Watch's Wallet app is also available through the Apple Pay mechanism, although the overall presentation of the Walgreens card feels unfinished as it requires scrolling to access the barcode button via Apple Pay.

Late yesterday, Walgreens announced it plans to acquire rival Rite Aid in a deal that is expected to close in about a year to combine the largest and third-largest pharmacy chains in the United States. Rite Aid will initially operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Walgreens with its own branding, although the two brands are likely to fully integrate over time.

Walgreens was a launch partner for Apple Pay payments back in 2014, but Rite Aid famously held out due to its contractual obligations with competing payments platform MCX/CurrentC, even going as far as to disable existing NFC payment support to prevent customers from using Apple Pay in its stores. Rite Aid reversed course in August as its exclusivity with CurrentC ended, adding support for Apple Pay in its stores.

Article Link: Walgreens Gearing Up for Apple Pay-Linked Loyalty Rewards Cards

Is this the only store that currently has support for loyalty cards? The speed at which this stuff has rolled out is abysmal.

 

[Karma*Police]

There needs to be a few of these types of announcements every month if Apple Pay hopes to be as ubiquitous as credit cards within the next couple of years.

I hope the floodgates open soon because Apple Pay is super convenient and gives me peace of mind.

 

[macnewbie91]

Good,

Now I'm looking at you, Subway. Not only to provide NFC support for the Subway card, but also for your store's owners to use common sense and put the readers in front of the customer and not to the side where the cashiers can only use them.

Kinda sad how the screen has Apple Pay and an NFC logo on it, yet the reader is out of the customer's reach. What is the point of that?

 

[nutmac]

Wallet app is quickly becoming a mess. I like that Pay is a separate section, but everything else is dumped into Passes section. It's time to create additional sections, Rewards, Memberships, and Tickets. While at it, please add Wallet to triple-click accessibility shortcut option.

 

[TEG]

I just find this odd. Kroger's family of stores have had their rewards card as part of Passbook/Wallet since the beginning, and you just scan the barcode. The NFC would be nice, but not really required for these, as there really isn't anything private about the cards.

 

[rusty2192]

I just find this odd. Kroger's family of stores have had their rewards card as part of Passbook/Wallet since the beginning, and you just scan the barcode. The NFC would be nice, but not really required for these, as there really isn't anything private about the cards.

The kicker for me at our local Kroger stores is that they just switched out all of the card readers for the new chip cards, but didn't get ones with NFC. So who knows how many years it will be before we get Apple Pay there.

 

[tmiw]

The kicker for me at our local Kroger stores is that they just switched out all of the card readers for the new chip cards, but didn't get ones with NFC. So who knows how many years it will be before we get Apple Pay there.

They're using MX915s (like many of the other Apple Pay retailers). However, they're going to keep NFC turned off on those for the foreseeable future from what I hear, even after they finally turn chip on.

 

[bn-7bc]

Gross.

One of Apple Pay's biggest features is how it randomizes your identity and makes it impossible for retailers to track you. In theory, no more of this:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmir...teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/

But good news for retailers! They can get around this by bribing their customers with price cuts. That was close, people almost had privacy! Good thing that was avoided.

But while I expect the stores to try this, what frustrates me more is the overwhelming support from consumers as witnessed in this very thread.

Nice try, Apple, but people don't actually want privacy. It was a good effort but just so long as they can save a few pennies on soap and candy they'll hand it all right back to you.

Well maybe the aspect most people care about is actually not having their cc/debit card info in a db ar every place they shop at , I wonder why.

 

[topmounter]

I'm a little surprised that the FTC is actually going to allow Walgreens to acquire Rite-aid. Walgreens must have done their skid-greasing homework... can you say Board Seat!!!

 

[mrcobra92]

So I got it to work, but in the store the terminal got stuck on processing.

 

[iGeek2014]

Given that Walgreens own Boots UK (as part of a subsidiary) I'm hoping the Advantage Card will be added to Wallet for iOS 9 in the months to come.