CVS and Rite Aid Take a Bite Out of Apple Pay By Disabling it in Their Stores

CVS and Rite Aid have disabled Apple Pa at their stores, and analysts says that they're hoping to boost another competing payment system.

Image via Apple

Having fun using Apple Pay? That's great, just don't go to CVS or Rite Aid looking to use it.

Over the weekend, both retailers disabled Apple Pay from working with compatible devices in their locations, even though the service was up and running for most of last week. As The New York Times explains, CVS and Rite Aid are part of Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), a group of retailers that operates separately from the collection of stores that opted to use Apple Pay. MCX is working on their own payments system app to rival Apple Pay, called CurrentC. The payment system will keep track of consumer shopping trends at the stores that sign up to use it, which will give the retailers a better picture at what to offer in loyalty programs or promotions. Analysts say that by phasing out Apple Pay at their stores, CVS and Rite Aid are taking sides and hoping to ensure the success of MCX's technology over Apple's—though the former isn't even out yet.

From early descriptions, it seems like CurrentC is going to be more complicated than Apple Pay, which may ultimately doom it if MCX doesn't change it before its release in 2015. In order to use it, consumers will have to download an app, link their debit card accounts, and when it's time to make a purchase, the merchant will have to scan a QR code to initiate the purchase. The beauty of Apple Pay is that it doesn't require the user to unlock their phone and open an app, it can all be done from the lock screen.

Best Buy, Gap, and Walmart are all a part of MCX, but it isn't clear if they are going to take Rite Aid and CVS's lead. While Apple Pay seems to be popular right now, if the big retailers cut themselves out of the equation, it'll place a heavy thorn in Apple's side when it comes to making their payment system a true digital wallet. If retailers refuse to adopt NFC technology, consumers are just going to get as annoyed as they do when they go to store, pick something out, and find out that the retailer only takes cash.

We all may just have to stick with debit cards in the end.

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