Target denies reports of imminent Apple Pay addition to retail stores
After a social media post by Target started reports circulating that Apple Pay would be accepted in-store, the company has denied that any effort is in place.
The company is "working on getting this Technology into our stores," a Target customer service representative said on Sunday as a response to a customer "We'll catch up with the 21st century soon!"
However, in a statement made to AppleInsider on Monday, Target denied that there was anything to discuss regarding Apple Pay at this time.
"We have no plans or work underway currently to make Apple Pay available in our stores," said Target in the statement about the posting. "We continue to offer Apple Pay for online purchases in the Target app. And while we are exploring mobile wallet opportunities for our stores, we have no updates on our plans to share at this time.
While people can use Apple Pay for online Target orders, it remains uncertain why the company hasn't made the jump at retail. Many locations have point-of-sale terminals compatible with NFC technology, and the functionality remains shut down.
The company previously indicated it would be "open-minded" about platforms like Apple Pay after upgrading its terminals with chip card support, which it finally accomplished in Oct. 2015. Target announced plans in January to launch its own mobile payment option later in 2017, which might be the primary reason for delaying Apple Pay.
Further adopting Apple's technology might give Target a small advantage over its biggest rival in U.S. retail, Walmart. The latter has deliberately avoided third-party mobile platforms in favor of Walmart Pay, which is based on QR codes.
The company is "working on getting this Technology into our stores," a Target customer service representative said on Sunday as a response to a customer "We'll catch up with the 21st century soon!"
However, in a statement made to AppleInsider on Monday, Target denied that there was anything to discuss regarding Apple Pay at this time.
"We have no plans or work underway currently to make Apple Pay available in our stores," said Target in the statement about the posting. "We continue to offer Apple Pay for online purchases in the Target app. And while we are exploring mobile wallet opportunities for our stores, we have no updates on our plans to share at this time.
While people can use Apple Pay for online Target orders, it remains uncertain why the company hasn't made the jump at retail. Many locations have point-of-sale terminals compatible with NFC technology, and the functionality remains shut down.
The company previously indicated it would be "open-minded" about platforms like Apple Pay after upgrading its terminals with chip card support, which it finally accomplished in Oct. 2015. Target announced plans in January to launch its own mobile payment option later in 2017, which might be the primary reason for delaying Apple Pay.
Further adopting Apple's technology might give Target a small advantage over its biggest rival in U.S. retail, Walmart. The latter has deliberately avoided third-party mobile platforms in favor of Walmart Pay, which is based on QR codes.
Comments
But I guess "coming up with something better" isn't the point.
Somebody posted it on Target's social media account and that is what the original story covered. That is verifiable.
What department store do you shop at then? I don't know of a major department store retailer other than Kohls that does allow Apple Pay. You can't honestly tell us that you don't go to any of them, ever.
That's exactly what I was going to say. I wouldn't use Apple Pay at Target if it cost me my 5% Target discount.
Haha Macy's. Nobody shops there.
This has to be the exact reason why they haven't allowed it yet. So this I don't think is exactly Target's fault, but rather Apple's. Once Apple starts allowing store cards into Apple Pay you'll see retails such as Target come onboard in store.
As many others have pointed out, the primary reluctance by major players is undoubtedly losing that valuable customer data. Although the smart companies are offering loyalty cards that now can be incorporated in Apple Pay to incentivize you to give them the data.
The other thing Target ,Walmart, etc., would like to avoid paying albeit a small amount (15cents on a $100 purchase) when you use Apple Pay with their Target Card. Retailers don't have to pay anything when you use Apple Pay, unless in the rare case where they are also the card issuer. Target has pushed it's own debit card, Walmart has a couple of credit cards, etc.
Walmart, Target, etc., are able to hold out because the use hasn't become widespread enough, and they are hoping to get their own systems adopted. But with retailer acceptance hitting almost 40% this year, I think you'll see Apple finally launch its ad campaign for Apple Pay. It hasn't made since to spend a lot advertising to consumers when the number of places they could use it was so low. Once you've used Apple Pay, it's easy to get hooked on how nice it works, and when other customers see it used more regularly the demand curve will really take off and businesses won't be able to resist the tide. For example, at Costco yesterday I asked about it, and I was told that they are getting the new readers soon that will be capable of using Apple Pay and they are aware that there is strong customer demand, so crossing fingers.