Rite Aid to begin taking Apple Pay, other wireless payments on Aug. 15
Pharmacy chain Rite Aid on Tuesday annnounced that starting August 15, all of its U.S. stores will begin offering Apple Pay and other wireless payment options, marking a turnaround for a company that last year intentionally blocked Apple's mobile payment system.
Aside from Apple Pay, Rite Aid will be accepting Google Wallet and various tap-and-pay cards. When it launches alongside Android M later this year, Android Pay will likewise become an option. Rite Aid has almost 4,600 stores across the country.
In October 2014, Rite Aid and fellow pharmacy chain CVS briefly supported Apple Pay, but then suddenly shut off access. Both companies are a part of the Merchant Customer Exchange, or MCX, which is developing its own payment platform called CurrentC. A trial run of the technology could begin as soon as this month.
MCX has imposed exclusivity agreements on its members, but Bloomberg sources previously said that these should be ending in August, which may explain Rite Aid's timing. Another MCX member, Best Buy, said in April that it would have Apple Pay by the end of the year.
Though Apple Pay has encountered its share of adoption problems, it remains one of the most popular mobile payment methods and thus may be considered essential to support, regardless of previous agreements.
CurrentC will allow supporting retailers to minimize fees paid to financial services while simultaneously holding on to more customer data than something like Apple Pay. For the customers themselves, though, CurrentC uses a less convenient QR code system, and requires linking either a store-issued card or a checking account.
Aside from Apple Pay, Rite Aid will be accepting Google Wallet and various tap-and-pay cards. When it launches alongside Android M later this year, Android Pay will likewise become an option. Rite Aid has almost 4,600 stores across the country.
In October 2014, Rite Aid and fellow pharmacy chain CVS briefly supported Apple Pay, but then suddenly shut off access. Both companies are a part of the Merchant Customer Exchange, or MCX, which is developing its own payment platform called CurrentC. A trial run of the technology could begin as soon as this month.
MCX has imposed exclusivity agreements on its members, but Bloomberg sources previously said that these should be ending in August, which may explain Rite Aid's timing. Another MCX member, Best Buy, said in April that it would have Apple Pay by the end of the year.
Though Apple Pay has encountered its share of adoption problems, it remains one of the most popular mobile payment methods and thus may be considered essential to support, regardless of previous agreements.
CurrentC will allow supporting retailers to minimize fees paid to financial services while simultaneously holding on to more customer data than something like Apple Pay. For the customers themselves, though, CurrentC uses a less convenient QR code system, and requires linking either a store-issued card or a checking account.
Comments
If we see a story so where CVS will be accepting Apple Pay we will probably assume it's reactionary but I doubt that's the case. No single retailer is likely to cause another retailer to jump on board. It's about the overall ecosystem, customer demand, cost v profit which includes potential loss of certain data mining, and, as is the case with CVS, getting out from under their CurrentC contractuall bligations (which I have to assume are expiring soon).
Their foolish part wring with MCX aside, I really like CVS in terms of selection, cleanliness and customer service, but if Rite Aid will be accepting Apple Pay and isn't much further away I think I'll support them to help push Apple Pay's growth* by moving my prescriptions from CVS to Rite Aid, even if they seem dirtier and worse at customer service.
* I believe Apple Pay everywhere CC's are accepted is inevitable but I want to help speed up the time frame
Hundreds of patients have agreed to move their Rx away from CVS to Walgreens since CVS's politically silly choice to shut off Apple Pay. Happy to do my part by telling then what CVS data mining means to patients.
http://news.walgreens.com/press-releases/walgreens-launches-app-for-apple-watch-to-support-medication-adherence.htm
Not sure if Walgreens still does this either, but if so it's not very nice.
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/patients-sue-walgreens-making-money-their-data
Tell them to be careful then if tracking is an issue. This is how Walgreens will use Apple Pay to track your habits and health issues:
http://news.walgreens.com/press-releases/walgreens-launches-app-for-apple-watch-to-support-medication-adherence.htm
How is an optional Apple Watch feature that helps you not miss taking your medication in any way a negative?? Shouldn't we wish everyone used this and reduced that $300 billion issue of people forgetting needed medication doses and all the dangerous results that can bring about?
This shouldn't be required, but how can you rag on an optional feature?
If the primary reason you want to use Apple Pay is security then don't use the retailer's app or loyalty card with it.
EDIT; I would wager that very few here have any idea of the profits being made from monetizing patient data. Billions!
http://www.propublica.org/article/big-data-big-pharma-big-money
IMS Health Holdings Inc. says it pulled in nearly $2 billion in the first nine months of 2013, much of it from sweeping up data from pharmacies and selling it to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The firm’s revenues in 2012 reached $2.4 billion, about 60 percent of it from selling such information.
And then there were two ...
Except CurrentC is nowhere to be seen.
IMHO CurrentC would appeal to the same folks most likely to take advantage of payday loans. It was never going to compete with Apple Pay, nor even Android Pay for that matter. Two different demographics
Adding to that, companies like CVS won't lose customer data mining by adopting Apple Pay. They will still ask to scan your rewards card (which many store on their phones now) or your phone number to get deals on purchases, coupons and credits, with the primary payment option being separate. Apple Pay will simply add a new payment option to swipe, cash, and the upcoming C&P.
IMHO CurrentC would appeal to the same folks most likely to take advantage of payday loans. It was never going to compete with Apple Pay, nor even Android Pay for that matter. Two different demographics
Current C appeals to me, only in that it's an alternative to ?Pay which none of my current devices support. I'm not worried about how secure it is, since it's unlikely to be less secure than the credit cards I'm currently using. I would imagine that anyone who is currently in the same boat, and realizes the convenience of wireless payments would also be interested. And I for one am not interested in ever taking a payday loan. Obviously Current C is dead end technology, but I'm all for other options than ?Pay. Competition is healthy.
Yes, but Wally-World and CVS are the 2 big holdouts.
Target is pretty big also.
My senior parents had a lot of medications that I picked up for them at Rite Aid. When Rite Aid didn't go for Apple Pay and instead said it was going with the other service (MCX), I switched to Walgreens so I could use Apple Pay. Now that the prescriptions are already set up at Walgreens, it is not worth my time to switch back. You snooze, you lose.
You're right! I was confused because Target accepts ApplePay in their online app.
I hate drug store period. Apple Pay or not I'll avoid them if at all possible. Just say no to drugs, big pharma is your enemy
My mother would be crippled and/or dead without drugs (like people like her were 25 years ago).