Apple Pay begins working at select Best Buy stores
Best Buy is already supporting Apple Pay in some stores, despite not having formally announced a start date, various anecdotes indicated on Thursday.
Reports of transactions working at some California Best Buys emerged via a Reddit thread and a YouTube video noticed by MacRumors. Google's Android Pay also appears to be an option.
In April, Apple announced that Best Buy would begin supporting Apple Pay in late 2015, but since then neither company has been more specific. Until August Best Buy was restricted by an exclusivity agreement with MCX, the consortium developing a rival payment platform called CurrentC. That system was supposed to go live in 2015, but may now have to wait until 2016.
Apple Pay may not be ready in all Best Buy locations, which would explain the lack of a formal announcement. Often Apple Pay will begin working at individual stores as a partner chain upgrades each one with NFC terminals.
Best Buy support is just one of a round of changes to Apple Pay this month. British banks Lloyds, Halifax, and the Bank of Scotland launched support last week, and American shoppers can now use Discover cards. iOS 9 supports store credit and reward cards.
Reports of transactions working at some California Best Buys emerged via a Reddit thread and a YouTube video noticed by MacRumors. Google's Android Pay also appears to be an option.
In April, Apple announced that Best Buy would begin supporting Apple Pay in late 2015, but since then neither company has been more specific. Until August Best Buy was restricted by an exclusivity agreement with MCX, the consortium developing a rival payment platform called CurrentC. That system was supposed to go live in 2015, but may now have to wait until 2016.
Apple Pay may not be ready in all Best Buy locations, which would explain the lack of a formal announcement. Often Apple Pay will begin working at individual stores as a partner chain upgrades each one with NFC terminals.
Best Buy support is just one of a round of changes to Apple Pay this month. British banks Lloyds, Halifax, and the Bank of Scotland launched support last week, and American shoppers can now use Discover cards. iOS 9 supports store credit and reward cards.
Comments
I live in a small town but come on...
This is good news. Best Buy actually has the same price as Amazon on most bigger items, so I prefer to go somewhere where I can easily return if something goes wrong.
They have the same price as Amazon for ALL items, if it's the same model number. They'll price match any current prices at the register. I've done it before.
This is good news. Best Buy actually has the same price as Amazon on most bigger items, so I prefer to go somewhere where I can easily return if something goes wrong.
Amazon has a way better return policy. If something goes wrong with electronics such as a TV, you have to deal with the manufacturer, not Best Buy. You only have 15 days to return a TV at Best Buy.
Amazon has a way better return policy. If something goes wrong with electronics such as a TV, you have to deal with the manufacturer, not Best Buy. You only have 15 days to return a TV at Best Buy.
You can mitigate that by putting the purchase on a credit card that has return protection. Depending on the card, such protection generally extends the return window by 30-60 days or possibly longer.
Awesome! This is great news. I love going to Best Buy. I wonder which store they are showing in that top photo. Looks like a beautiful area. The store also looks new and clean and look at that sky! And the background isn't all cluttered like it is here where I live.
Palm trees AND mountains. I'm guessing somewhere in southern California.
Yep, they sure will!
Yep, I guess it is. That's beautiful. Way better than ghetto a** south Florida!
I guess I missed something. Last I understood was that Best Buy chose a competitor to Apple Pay (CurrentC) and all but swore to never use the latter.
CurrentC is going to be D.O.A. by the time they get it out there.
ApplePay might be supported, but it seems Best Buy gift/store_credit/ cards cannot be added to Passbook.
The article states that their exclusive agreement with CurrentC ended in August. It also stated that CurrentC won't debut until some time in 2016 now.
I wouldn't be surprised if it gets scraped completely now though. It was an inferior idea that is now way too late to the game.
Amazon has a way better return policy. If something goes wrong with electronics such as a TV, you have to deal with the manufacturer, not Best Buy. You only have 15 days to return a TV at Best Buy.
Best Buy's rewards program comes with extended return periods, with tiers based on annual spending. I get 30 days on everything except 14 days for cell phones (which is why I buy cell phones directly from Apple). YMMV.