Apple Pay launched on Monday (October 20th), although not everyone was ready to go. Many users were disappointed to find out that their credit card company had not yet transitioned to Apple Pay, or that their favorite store wasn't on board yet. However, I'm sure it won't be much longer until they are.
Some stores took advantage of the launch, like Whole Foods - with advertising geared towards Apple Pay users. Others, such as Staples, have not yet fully transitioned - while Staples is accepting Apple Pay through its mobile app, it is not yet accepting it in stores.
Several stores have stated that they will not be jumping on the Apple Pay bandwagon - at least not yet. Another company, called Mercent Customer Exchange (MCX), is working on a technology called CurrentC - which would be similar to Apple Pay. However, instead of accepting payments using NFC (near field communication), the customer would scan a QR code at the register.
What's the advantage to this type of system? Well, the stores would not be required to change out their existing terminals - while they do have to in order to communicate with the new Apple devices using NFC. Several stores, including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, and Darden Restaurants are said to be supporting the MCX system. In addition to not having to change out the terminals, the merchants would also avoid the 2% to 3% fee that is charged by the credit card giants - Visa and Mastercard.
CVS and Rite Aid have also said that they will not be using Apple Pay - even though their existing systems support NFC. Time will tell who the winner of this fight will be - if Apple Pay becomes successful, it would be very difficult for stores to continue to decline its use within their stores.
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