Roger Fingas
U.S. pharmacy chain CVS is now offering Apple Pay nationwide, marking an important adoption milestone for both users and the platform as a whole.
Shoppers can now tap a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch to pay for medicine and other purchases. Apple first announced in July that CVS would be coming onboard, but at the time said only that the rollout would happen sometime in 2018.
AppleInsider can confirm that a large number of CVS stores were already supporting Apple Pay prior to today, with many coming online days after the announcement — but not every location may have been ready.
CVS was a longtime holdout, even once its chief rival Walgreens came onboard. This was partly because CVS was one of the backers of CurrentC, a merchant-supported payment platform that ultimately failed to launch. That technology would have avoided splitting transaction fees with firms like Apple, but been notably less convenient, requiring people to pull up an app and scan their phones.
In fact two other CurrentC backers, Target and Walmart, have avoided Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay for their own scanning-based systems. Those retailers are now the biggest Apple Pay holdouts in the U.S. — a problem since many Americans visit those stores weekly.
CVS is another American staple however, and should boost the visibility and practicality of Apple's technology.
Amber Neely
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
26 Comments
About time. Actually used Apple Pay at CVS yesterday and it was a breeze. Hopefully more CurrentC hold outs follow suit. Really just need Target & Publix to get on board and I’m pretty much set.
CurrentC had some lofty goals, and the sales pitch seemed like it was going to be great for merchants, but the problem was they were going up against the banks and it wasn't going to be easy for the consumer to use.
https://www.applicoinc.com/blog/happened-currentc-platform-innovation-fails/
Used Apple Pay at a CVS in Manhattan 2 days ago. I assumed the rollout had already been completed since it was working there.
Too late, I already switched to Walgreens and I’m certainly not going back to CVS with its shady coupons and cardholder-only rebates.
Also this past week end I was delighted to find out that my Costco accepted ApplePay! Woohoo!
CVS is a big one to finally get onboard. I think we’ll be waiting a long time for Walmart to get its act together. Even my local independent coffee shop accepts Pay. They use a simple Square terminal that does it all.