Retailers block Apple Pay in electronic payment battle
Many chains, including CVS and Walmart, have actively stated they won’t be using Apple’s newest mobile payment system (along with Google Wallet), but the decision seems to only compound current retail media relations problems.
Apple boasts roughly 60 million iPhone users, who will all eventually come around to using Apple Pay, the company’s recently announced mobile wallet system.
But some retailers are purposely disabling or leaving off their near field communication (NFC) capabilities.
Not all iPhone users are on board yet with Apple Pay, but when they are, the companies like CVS await a much heftier PR nightmare than the one they’re already facing.
The company, along with Rite Aid, has blocked the NFC payment system that would enable customers to use Google Wallet and Apple Pay. That’s because those retailers are planning their own QR code payment system, CurrentC.
Want some bad press? Have Tim Cook, CEO of the 9th most loved company in the world, call you out.
Cook said at the WSJD Live conference, “In the long arc of time you’re only relevant as a merchant if your customers love you.” He went on to talk about the “skirmish” would ultimately end when customers decide which payment system they prefer.
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