Apple Pay to arrive in Germany, CVS and 7-11 later this year

Posted:
in iOS edited July 2018
During Apple's quarterly conference call for the third quarter of 2018, CEO Tim Cook made two announcements regarding Apple Pay's planned expansion for the year.




First, long-time holdout CVS is finally going to begin accepting Apple Pay in stores nationwide later this year. They originally shunned Apple Pay when the service launched, opting for their own barcode-based solution.

Chain store 7-11 will also see Apple Pay integration at some point in 2018, an addition that will massively expand the service's reach.

Beyond the U.S., Apple Pay will be rolling out in Germany "later this year," bringing the total number of supporting countries worldwide to 29. A German launch has been rumored for more than a year, though Apple faces stiff resistance from the country's banks.

Cook also mentioned the overall success of Apple Pay as a product, noting it has processed more transactions than segment leader Square.

Services revenue


Apple Pay is part of Apple's "services" catgegory which continues to grow, increasing this year to 31 percent to 9.5 billion for the quarter.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 31
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    And because of CVS’s policy I no longer shop their stores. Walgreens has supported Pay almost from the beginning. CVS’s change of heart will not change my mind.
    2old4funboxcatcherjbdragonuraharachasm
  • Reply 2 of 31
    2old4fun2old4fun Posts: 239member
    lkrupp said:
    And because of CVS’s policy I no longer shop their stores. Walgreens has supported Pay almost from the beginning. CVS’s change of heart will not change my mind.
    Likewise!
    boxcatcherchasm
  • Reply 3 of 31
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    As I said years ago, CVS will eventually support Apple Pay. I think the longest holdout will be Walmart, but I think eventually they will succumb to the inevitable.
    olsboxcatcherjbdragonchasm
  • Reply 4 of 31
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Oh, boy. Glad CVS finally gets on board. Unbelievable they took this long. And 7-11 is huge.
    edited July 2018 cecil444cecil444boxcatcher
  • Reply 5 of 31
    bageljoeybageljoey Posts: 2,004member
    On vacation a week ago I rode my bike to the liquor store only to find I left my wallet at the house. No problem I had my watch. 
    Still, I had to go to 4 stores before I found one that supported Apple Pay—of course, that store got the family business for the rest of the week.

    (I can’t wait till support is universal!)
    jbdragon
  • Reply 6 of 31
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Soli said:
    As I said years ago, CVS will eventually support Apple Pay. I think the longest holdout will be Walmart, but I think eventually they will succumb to the inevitable.
    And don’t forget about Home Depot. They are still holding out too.
    backstabjbdragon
  • Reply 7 of 31
    I’m happy to hear that as CVS is the only store in a cluster of stores about  2 miles from my house that doesn’t accept Apple Pay. There’s Big Y, Ocean State Job Lot, McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, a convenience store, a dry cleaner and a few hundred feet away a farm stand that all take Apple Pay. CVS is right there too so that will be nice. 

    The thing that pisses me off about CVS is back in 2014 when I got my iPhone 6 they accepted Apple Pay. They were the first store where it worked for me. Literally 3 days later I went back and the functionality had been turned off. So stupid. 
    edited July 2018 SpamSandwichbackstab
  • Reply 8 of 31
    GG1GG1 Posts: 483member
    Oh, boy. Glad CVS finally gets on board. Unbelievable they took this long. And 7-11 is huge.
    I don't know how prevalent 7-11 is in Europe, but it is everywhere in Asia (7-11 is Japanese-owned). Glad to hear this news.

    I think North Korea will become a democracy before Walmart accepts ApplePay.
    stompySpamSandwichslprescott
  • Reply 9 of 31
    matrix077matrix077 Posts: 868member
    GG1 said:
    Oh, boy. Glad CVS finally gets on board. Unbelievable they took this long. And 7-11 is huge.
    I don't know how prevalent 7-11 is in Europe, but it is everywhere in Asia (7-11 is Japanese-owned). Glad to hear this news.
    Oh.. didn’t know that. I thought it’s America’s. 
  • Reply 10 of 31
    bageljoey said:
    On vacation a week ago I rode my bike to the liquor store only to find I left my wallet at the house. No problem I had my watch. 
    Still, I had to go to 4 stores before I found one that supported Apple Pay—of course, that store got the family business for the rest of the week.

    (I can’t wait till support is universal!)
    Now we just need wide-scale Apple Wallet-based ID 
  • Reply 11 of 31
    Another interesting angle, not sure how it impacts the worldwide deployment yet, but there are actually Asian 7-11 franchisees that do not accept credit cards. OK I know Apple Pay is not worldwide yet, but the idea of a cashless society has a long ways to go in parts of the world. See Uber vs. Grab in SE Asia.
  • Reply 12 of 31
    bageljoey said:
    On vacation a week ago I rode my bike to the liquor store only to find I left my wallet at the house. No problem I had my watch. 
    Still, I had to go to 4 stores before I found one that supported Apple Pay—of course, that store got the family business for the rest of the week.

    (I can’t wait till support is universal!)
    Now we just need wide-scale Apple Wallet-based ID 
    Yup.  I rarely need cash or insurance cards or even my driver’s license.  If my driver’s license and passport could become digital and added to Apple Wallet I could leave my wallet home permanently.  As it is I frequently make trips without it.  Apple Pay works at many of the places where I purchase things so carrying a wallet around in my pocket becomes unnecessary.  If I know my stops are all going to accept Apple Pay I just leave it at home.  Not to mention it’s annoying having to bring it along. I hate to sit on it in the car so I take it out and put it on the console. Then I have to put it back in my pocket when I get out, even if I’m not going to need it (I’m not just going to leave it in the car) and then repeat when I return to the car.  It’s a lot of wasted effort and time for something I’m just carrying around because of my license.
  • Reply 13 of 31
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    bageljoey said:
    On vacation a week ago I rode my bike to the liquor store only to find I left my wallet at the house. No problem I had my watch. 
    Still, I had to go to 4 stores before I found one that supported Apple Pay—of course, that store got the family business for the rest of the week.

    (I can’t wait till support is universal!)
    Now we just need wide-scale Apple Wallet-based ID 
    Yup.  I rarely need cash or insurance cards or even my driver’s license.  If my driver’s license and passport could become digital and added to Apple Wallet I could leave my wallet home permanently.  As it is I frequently make trips without it.  Apple Pay works at many of the places where I purchase things so carrying a wallet around in my pocket becomes unnecessary.  If I know my stops are all going to accept Apple Pay I just leave it at home.  Not to mention it’s annoying having to bring it along. I hate to sit on it in the car so I take it out and put it on the console. Then I have to put it back in my pocket when I get out, even if I’m not going to need it (I’m not just going to leave it in the car) and then repeat when I return to the car.  It’s a lot of wasted effort and time for something I’m just carrying around because of my license.
    The digital ID is an interesting one. How will people know it's genuine? Will you have to unlock your iPhone completely if, say, you get pulled over and a cop needs to see that information? With Touch ID Apple could implement a separate finger that would only show your DL or passport but with Face ID you're limited to completely unlocking the device.

    Apple could use an option like with the Medical ID access, but I don't want my DL, passport, and insurance info to be accessible to anyone that happens to find my iPhone in an age where identify theft is so rampant.

    Maybe it could be open access, like with the Medical ID, but call a server to obtain a temporary hash that law enforcement could then type into their system or copy via the NFC and/or Bluetooth which would then confirm the hash from a server which would then send them the data, but this would require that internet access is both ubiquitous an with a near 100% up time to be viable.

    Unless Apple can bring back Touch ID behind the display along with Face ID—which I don't think will happen—I don't see a great solution for digital IDs that will be acceptable by any gov't.


    edit: If NFC is involved, I guess it could work like how Apple Pay works today. Only the setup requires an internet connection on. your device and then when you access the Apple Pay you can then select your DL or passport to send to the agency's device. It could either send the whole thing, or could be a hash and cryptogram, like with Apple Pay, that the agent's device would then need to have internet access in order to receive the full data from the issuing body.

    But that creates other issues, but people need their IDs to get into bars, clubs, voting booths, buying certain items, and even rated R movies, and I don't think that we're close to the infrastructure of everyone being able to get backend access to verify identities and being able to hack, say, an Android device to send a fake state ID that says some kid is old enough to buy alcohol seems too easy.

    I'm sure this will happen, but I have no idea how this will happen. By the time it comes to pass our IDs may even be implanted into bodies.
    edited August 2018
  • Reply 14 of 31
    mbenz1962mbenz1962 Posts: 171member
    I can't wait for Apple Pay to come here to Germany.  It is one of the few valid examples I can point to when I tell people that moving to Germany was, in some respects, like moving back in time.  That is not always bad, because "progress" (in the sense of modernization) is not unequivocally good.  A slower pace of life definitely has up sides as well. Payment is one area that I really miss the "progress" of the US because it is a mundane task that can and has been improved dramatically.

    On a trip 2 years ago to the US I drove thru a Starbucks, ordered, stuck my arm out the window, and payed with ApplePay on my watch.  That is nearly an unfathomable scenario here. I just hope Sparkasse is an "early" adopter so that I don't have to change banks.
    [Deleted User]spheric
  • Reply 15 of 31
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    mbenz1962 said:
    I can't wait for Apple Pay to come here to Germany.  It is one of the few valid examples I can point to when I tell people that moving to Germany was, in some respects, like moving back in time.  That is not always bad, because "progress" (in the sense of modernization) is not unequivocally good.  A slower pace of life definitely has up sides as well. Payment is one area that I really miss the "progress" of the US because it is a mundane task that can and has been improved dramatically.

    On a trip 2 years ago to the US I drove thru a Starbucks, ordered, stuck my arm out the window, and payed with ApplePay on my watch.  That is nearly an unfathomable scenario here. I just hope Sparkasse is an "early" adopter so that I don't have to change banks.
    1) The US isn't nearly as advanced as other EU countries where just getting Apple Pay support in the country means that nearly all places accept it by default because NFC-based payments have been available for years, but Germany really seems like stepping back in time; not just a few years before NFC-based payments, but decades before CC and debit cards were commonplace. What is the reason for this?

    2) Even better is using the Starbucks app to order ahead (which still allows you to use Apple Pay in the app, as many iOS apps allow), and then just walk in to pick it up. No barista writing your order on the cup which they may get wrong, no having some incorrect spelling of your name, and no waiting in line. Even if you're going inside the store to sit it's great to use the app because your order gets printed out on a sticker that goes on the cup ahead of everyone else in line, including the person that is currently ordering.

    McDonald's and other restaurants offer similar options now with apps. McDonald's app is nice because there are always decent deals to be had so you not only save time but can save money. For example, $3 off a $10 or more order is easy to do with two people on a road trip. They'll even bring it out to your car.
    Folio
  • Reply 16 of 31
    Apple Pay in Germany: I believe it when I see it...

    And Apple doesn't need to roll it out in Germany with banks that resist it. N26 is a bank that offers Apple Pay already in many EU countries where they have operations, and offer since last month Google Pay. I am a proud customer. I hope they are the first to offer it here.

    As for CVS and 7-11 - good, but I noticed that in the USA they are a bit behind with CC usage in general when it comes to contactless and PIN usage. They want to swipe it all the time, they have no wireless devices to come at your table to pay, they don't understand that the software allows them to put a tip (the customer should do it of course) in the bill. A few times they would press "ok" without reading and then complain that I could not tip them. I needed to leave a restaurant without tip, because they would not understand and read the messages on their own payment terminals. It felt like 1990.

    And when the device asks for the PIN, their mind blows. They are stuck with the giving them the card, swipe it somewhere, me writing a tip and total on a piece of paper, and then them tipping that back in the terminal (very unsecure btw, as when they have the card, the ave the CVC code too and can merrily go and buy whatever online - that is how cards are cloned, etc.).

    As for contactless, often it doesn't work and my friend who has Apple Pay with a US bank, never was really able to use it. It was an exception.
    It seems that a lot of places in the world are having a hard time adopting new more efficient, secure and faster ways to pay.
  • Reply 17 of 31
    mbenz1962mbenz1962 Posts: 171member
    Soli said:
    mbenz1962 said:
    I can't wait for Apple Pay to come here to Germany.  It is one of the few valid examples I can point to when I tell people that moving to Germany was, in some respects, like moving back in time.  That is not always bad, because "progress" (in the sense of modernization) is not unequivocally good.  A slower pace of life definitely has up sides as well. Payment is one area that I really miss the "progress" of the US because it is a mundane task that can and has been improved dramatically.

    On a trip 2 years ago to the US I drove thru a Starbucks, ordered, stuck my arm out the window, and payed with ApplePay on my watch.  That is nearly an unfathomable scenario here. I just hope Sparkasse is an "early" adopter so that I don't have to change banks.
    1) The US isn't nearly as advanced as other EU countries where just getting Apple Pay support in the country means that nearly all places accept it by default because NFC-based payments have been available for years, but Germany really seems like stepping back in time; not just a few years before NFC-based payments, but decades before CC and debit cards were commonplace. What is the reason for this?
    There is a very strong cultural tie to cash transactions here.  The average German consumer only spends what they have (which is much healthier than the Average American); this includes, however, limiting their spending to just the amount of cash in their pocket at a given moment.  This is changing, but very slowly.
    Soli said:
    2) Even better is using the Starbucks app to order ahead (which still allows you to use Apple Pay in the app, as many iOS apps allow), and then just walk in to pick it up. No barista writing your order on the cup which they may get wrong, no having some incorrect spelling of your name, and no waiting in line. Even if you're going inside the store to sit it's great to use the app because your order gets printed out on a sticker that goes on the cup ahead of everyone else in line, including the person that is currently ordering.
    I know.  I have only tried it once since it came out.  It's pretty convenient and I remember thinking, "this is how all fast food orders should be".  The closest we have here are kiosks for ordering at McD. Not bad, but not as good as ordering within an app.  
  • Reply 18 of 31
    As someone from the UK, it sounds really strange for one shop to accept and another to refuse Apple Pay. Over here, everyones credit/debit card is contactless and pretty much every shop that can process a credit/debit card wirelessly will also take Apple Pay.
  • Reply 19 of 31
    mbenz1962 said:
    Soli said:
    1) The US isn't nearly as advanced as other EU countries where just getting Apple Pay support in the country means that nearly all places accept it by default because NFC-based payments have been available for years, but Germany really seems like stepping back in time; not just a few years before NFC-based payments, but decades before CC and debit cards were commonplace. What is the reason for this?
    There is a very strong cultural tie to cash transactions here.  The average German consumer only spends what they have (which is much healthier than the Average American); this includes, however, limiting their spending to just the amount of cash in their pocket at a given moment.  This is changing, but very slowly.
    Well, there’s certainly a big preference in Germany for debit cards over credit cards, since the charges by CC companies (to the vendor) are very high (some small shops lose over 5% when you pay with a CC).

    Will be glad to see Apple Pay finally appear here. NFC machines have been slow to roll out in my area though, so not sure when it’ll really be ubiquitous.
  • Reply 20 of 31
    plovellplovell Posts: 824member
    There are still lots of places in Germany where cash is king. Plastic - either credit or debit - just isn't welcome.

    Cash - don't leave home without it.
Sign In or Register to comment.