AppleInsider Staff
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.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Marko Zivkovic
Christine McKee
46 Comments
So once again, fake news.
I have NEVER seen ANYONE use Walmart Pay at a Walmart. Yes, I shop there from time to time for expediency’s sake. I don’t think the demographics match.
Does Target seriously believe it can come up with something better?
But I guess "coming up with something better" isn't the point.
the checkout experience at Target, Home Depot and Walmart are one of the worst. I notice the friction when checking out and it annoys me, and it makes buying online more appealing for me. They need to slow Amazon.com down - making the checkout process less painful is a step towards that.
Why are these companies so hell bent on making payments to them difficult? The easier payments are, the better our customer experience will.