Andrew O'Hara
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.
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.
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31 Comments
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.
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.
Oh, boy. Glad CVS finally gets on board. Unbelievable they took this long. And 7-11 is huge.
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!)