Apple has provided the following statement to Business Insider when asked about CVS and Rite Aid both blocking Apple Pay at their checkout terminals:
Earlier today CVS confirmed in a statement to CNBC that it will not be accepting Apple Pay after users previously reported being able to the chain’s NFC terminals:
“At this time, CVS/pharmacy cannot accept Apple Pay or other mobile payments that use NFC technology. We are in the process of evaluating mobile payment options for our customers.”
CVS’s decision to not accept Apple Pay has been echoed by competing pharmacy chain Rite Aid in favor of a system called CurrentC. Rather than support both Apple Pay, CurrentC, and any other mobile payment system like Google Wallet, both chains have opted to actively disable NFC functionality at their sales terminals disabling Apple Pay support at checkout. CurrentC is an effort from the Merchant Customer eXchange (MCX) consortium which includes a number of other retailers like Best Buy and Walmart as well.
Both CVS and Rite Aid were able to accept Apple Pay at NFC terminals during the first few days of Apple Pay’s roll out, but both have since manually disabled support for all NFC-based payments. Competing pharmacy chain Walgreens, however, is a launch partner for Apple Pay and has encouraged its shoppers to use the secure mobile payment system.
Other Apple Pay partners have been eager to promote their participation as well. MasterCard put Apple Pay in front of MLB World Series viewers as it advertised support at World Series stadiums, and Wells Fargo has begun offering its customers $20 credits for using Apple Pay.
While Apple’s statement above focused on the number of retailers supporting in Apple Pay and the company’s effort to sign more retailers on board with the mobile payment system, the company is encouraging Apple Pay users to report issues with using the service at retailers with NFC sales terminals at checkout.
Apple has linked to its existing support feedback form for Apple Pay from the Apple Pay explainer site encouraging users to report businesses that display the universal NFC logo but do not support Apple Pay.
