Target may be ready to concede and enable Apple Pay at retail

AppleInsider

One of the biggest U.S. retail holdouts for Apple Pay, Target, may be preparing to launch official support at its stores in the near future.

The technology is already working at the Metreon location in San Francisco, some posters on Twitter have claimed. Another noted that while they didn't try Apple Pay, they were able to use a contactless card, which only works with NFC-enabled terminals.

Target has so far resisted not just Apple Pay but any NFC-based mobile payment option for its stores. Shoppers can use Apple Pay in the Target iOS app, but at retail the closest equivalent is a scannable barcode in the app.

The Twitter anecdotes were first highlighted by 9to5Mac.

It is possible that the Metreon store has simply enabled NFC by accident, but merchants will often test Apple Pay on a small scale before official rollouts. Target has also been under public pressure to support the platform, given the popularity of the iPhone and Apple Watch in the U.S.

Target has some 1,850 stores nationwide, and is where many Americans do weekly shopping for clothes, groceries, and other necessities. It also sells some Apple products, such as iPhones.

dedgecko

Well that’s interesting.

mpantone

Perhaps a wee bit, but not that much.

Just another business learning to "give the customers what they want." A basic concept of capitalism. Nothing new.

edited November 2018

ihatescreennames

It’s about time considering that data breach a few years ago. They should have been one of the first to get on with Apple Pay, et al. 

macxpress

I would love for Target to do ApplePay with their own RedCard. I use the RedCard all the time...like every week since I get my groceries there (Super Target). 

all-purpose guru

As I recall, Target supported Apple Pay by accident when it first came out, as they had already replaced all their terminals as a result of the data breach they suffered right before Apple Pay was introduced.  There was significant controversy when it was then turned back off as a result of the inane ridiculous requirements of their contract with the late unlamented CurrentC program.

CurrentC was championed by Walmart, which is desperately trying to reduce the billions of dollars they pay to the credit card issuers.  Their current painful solution, Walmart Pay, tries to offer convenience for using a debit card, which is not subject to the high prices of credit card transactions.

I gotta admit, I think that credit card rates have got to go down some; Visa and MasterCard are raking in the money on transaction fees, and it is starting to become onerous for large businesses.  On the other hand, I would use Apple Pay as much as possible if my phone supported it because I hate giving businesses my credit card info.

edited November 2018

lkrupp

First CVS and now Target. The big prize is Walmart of course and I wonder how long till they give in.

mplsp

macxpress said:

I would love for Target to do ApplePay with their own RedCard. I use the RedCard all the time...like every week since I get my groceries there (Super Target). 

We shop at Target all the time and use their RedCard credit card as it gives us a 5% discount. Apple Pay with the Redcard would be great, but as it is, you can use the Target App to pay with your RedCard. Not quite as convenient as ApplePay but close. I’ll deal with opening an app to get an extra 5% discount.

mplsp

lkrupp said:

First CVS and now Target. The big prize is Walmart of course and I wonder how long till they give in.

Probably a while - the average WalMart customer doesn’t have an iPhone...

winston2010

It was probably an accident. When Home Depot switched to a new POS terminal after THE breach, I was able to use Apple Pay for several days, I was very excited. Then they turned it off.

dipdog3

All-Purpose Guru said:

Their current painful solution, Walmart Pay, tries to offer convenience for using a debit card, which is not subject to the high prices of credit cards

Your statement is wrong. You can use a credit card with Walmart Pay, do it all the time.

It’s also not a “painful” solution. It’s somewhere in between using a physical credit card and Apple Pay.

The biggest issue with Walmart Pay is that you have to open up the Walmart app & click on Walmart Pay to use it. Once you scan the QR code, it’s actually faster than Apple Pay. On the positive side, all of your receipts are stored in the app, so saves paper and makes for easy returns.

edited November 2018

roake

dipdog3 said:

All-Purpose Guru said:

Their current painful solution, Walmart Pay, tries to offer convenience for using a debit card, which is not subject to the high prices of credit cards

Your statement is wrong. You can use a credit card with Walmart Pay, do it all the time.

It’s also not a “painful” solution. It’s somewhere in between using a physical credit card and Apple Pay.

The biggest issue with Walmart Pay is that you have to open up the Walmart app & click on Walmart Pay to use it. Once you scan the QR code, it’s actually faster than Apple Pay. On the positive side, all of your receipts are stored in the app, so saves paper and makes for easy returns.

Translation: they track all your perchases, no matter how personal.  Wal Mart is making you another product that they can sell.

The clear advantage for Apple Pay for me is the privacy, including the tokenized card numbers so that The store doesn’t have them to lose, and they can track my purchase because they don’t know who they sold them to.  Almost like paying cash.

edited November 2018

applesauce007

Yes.  Target and then Walmart will have to follow.

rayz2016

dipdog3 said:

All-Purpose Guru said:

Their current painful solution, Walmart Pay, tries to offer convenience for using a debit card, which is not subject to the high prices of credit cards

Your statement is wrong. You can use a credit card with Walmart Pay, do it all the time.

It’s also not a “painful” solution. It’s somewhere in between using a physical credit card and Apple Pay.

The biggest issue with Walmart Pay is that you have to open up the Walmart app & click on Walmart Pay to use it. Once you scan the QR code, it’s actually faster than Apple Pay. On the positive side, all of your receipts are stored in the app, so saves paper and makes for easy returns.

So, once you find the app, open the app, click on Pay then scan the QR code, it’s faster than Apple Pay. 

You are soooooo winning. 🙄

anilu_777

I much prefer Apple Pay over all the others, even their own cards. As roake said, we become the product with store cards as well as points cards. I like the privacy of using Apple Pay and will use it everywhere I can. I’ll go to stores that use it over those that don’t. 

dipdog3 said:

All-Purpose Guru said:

Their current painful solution, Walmart Pay, tries to offer convenience for using a debit card, which is not subject to the high prices of credit cards

Your statement is wrong. You can use a credit card with Walmart Pay, do it all the time.

It’s also not a “painful” solution. It’s somewhere in between using a physical credit card and Apple Pay.

The biggest issue with Walmart Pay is that you have to open up the Walmart app & click on Walmart Pay to use it. Once you scan the QR code, it’s actually faster than Apple Pay. On the positive side, all of your receipts are stored in the app, so saves paper and makes for easy returns.

Translation: they track all your perchases, no matter how personal.  Wal Mart is making you another product that they can sell.

The clear advantage for Apple Pay for me is the privacy, including the tokenized card numbers so that The store doesn’t have them to lose, and they can track my purchase because they don’t know who they sold them to.  Almost like paying cash.

ramanpfaff

Double clicking on my Apple Watch is my favorite option when paying for stuff. I still get lots of "that is so cool, what is it?" questions. I never mind explaining it.

payeco

dipdog3 said:

All-Purpose Guru said:

Their current painful solution, Walmart Pay, tries to offer convenience for using a debit card, which is not subject to the high prices of credit cards

Your statement is wrong. You can use a credit card with Walmart Pay, do it all the time.

It’s also not a “painful” solution. It’s somewhere in between using a physical credit card and Apple Pay.

The biggest issue with Walmart Pay is that you have to open up the Walmart app & click on Walmart Pay to use it. Once you scan the QR code, it’s actually faster than Apple Pay. On the positive side, all of your receipts are stored in the app, so saves paper and makes for easy returns.

Have you actually ever used Apple Pay? Because there is no possible way the scenario you just described with Wal-Mart pay is quicker than Apple Pay. I use Apple Pay on the daily bases. Once you tap your phone/watch, the transaction is completed in less than a second. 

applesauce007

MplsP said:

lkrupp said:

First CVS and now Target. The big prize is Walmart of course and I wonder how long till they give in.

Probably a while - the average WalMart customer doesn’t have an iPhone...

They do have iPhones and credit/debit cards.  Some may need to be shown how to set it up and use it.
These stores are learning that customers don't want to use a different payment system for every store.

Apple Pay is driving mobile payments globally.  Any vendor that does not support it will eventually lose some sales and have more credit/debit fraud cases to deal with.  That leads to higher fraud insurance premiums for them.

Not to mention that Apple Pay speeds up payment processing lines.   Walgreens cashiers love ApplePay as it supports both Walgreens Rewards in addition to payments.  No code or phone number to enter and no change to give back.  Just beep and go. Face ID makes it even easier.

edited November 2018

supadav03

Saw a bunch of people posting about this on Twitter. Hope it doesn’t turn out to be a accident/glitch. Target is one of the few places I shop at regularly that doesn’t accept Apple Pay. Fingers crossed we start to hear reports of other locations taking Apple Pay in the near future. 

badmonk

I stopped shopping at Target after their data breach...I think companies need to face the consequences of their actions.

I might consider going back if this is official but it may be too late for them.

beowulfschmidt

roake said:

dipdog3 said:

All-Purpose Guru said:

Their current painful solution, Walmart Pay, tries to offer convenience for using a debit card, which is not subject to the high prices of credit cards

Your statement is wrong. You can use a credit card with Walmart Pay, do it all the time.

It’s also not a “painful” solution. It’s somewhere in between using a physical credit card and Apple Pay.

The biggest issue with Walmart Pay is that you have to open up the Walmart app & click on Walmart Pay to use it. Once you scan the QR code, it’s actually faster than Apple Pay. On the positive side, all of your receipts are stored in the app, so saves paper and makes for easy returns.

Translation: they track all your perchases, no matter how personal.  Wal Mart is making you another product that they can sell.

The clear advantage for Apple Pay for me is the privacy, including the tokenized card numbers so that The store doesn’t have them to lose, and they can track my purchase because they don’t know who they sold them to.  Almost like paying cash.

"They're tracking your purchases" is a somewhat specious complaint.  They could track purchases made with a credit card even when a user doesn't use the app.  If they wanted to.