Tim Cook Considers CVS And Rite Aid Blocking Apple Pay As A Skirmish
Over the weekend, CVS joined Rite Aid in taking steps to prevent customers from using Apple Pay to make purchases. Despite the steps taken, Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared to be unaffected by this move.
During this week’s Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference, when asked if CVS and Rite Aid’s strategy would be a challenge for Apple Pay, Cook answered, “I think it’s a skirmish, is the way I would see it.” Cook then went on to reveal that, within 72 hours of Apple Pay’s launch, more than 1 million cards were activated.
Currently, there are 34 businesses that are partnered with Apple Pay but not many of the larger merchant businesses have officially partnered up. However, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express are early adopters of Apple Pay and so are a handful of banks.
But Apple isn’t done bringing more businesses on board, Cook went on to say, “We’ve got a lot more to go. We’ve got a lot of merchants to sign up, we’ve got a lot more banks to sign up, and we have the whole rest of the world.”
Talking about the ease with which consumers can now make purchases, Cook explained, “It’s sort of that ‘ahh’ moment. You’re no longer fishing for the credit card, you’re no longer worried about the merchant losing your credit card.”
Aside from how easy it is for consumers to make purchases, the mobile wallet also boasts high security so that Apple isn’t even capable of spying on the purchases that are being made. “I think it’s the first and only mobile payment system that’s easy, private, and secure,” said Cook. “I think we hit on all three key points that the customer cares about.”
However, during its initial launch, Bank of America customers were accidentally charged twice when using Apple Pay. An issue that was quickly rectified with refunds issued to those affected.
During this week’s Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference, when asked if CVS and Rite Aid’s strategy would be a challenge for Apple Pay, Cook answered, “I think it’s a skirmish, is the way I would see it.” Cook then went on to reveal that, within 72 hours of Apple Pay’s launch, more than 1 million cards were activated.
Currently, there are 34 businesses that are partnered with Apple Pay but not many of the larger merchant businesses have officially partnered up. However, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express are early adopters of Apple Pay and so are a handful of banks.
But Apple isn’t done bringing more businesses on board, Cook went on to say, “We’ve got a lot more to go. We’ve got a lot of merchants to sign up, we’ve got a lot more banks to sign up, and we have the whole rest of the world.”
Talking about the ease with which consumers can now make purchases, Cook explained, “It’s sort of that ‘ahh’ moment. You’re no longer fishing for the credit card, you’re no longer worried about the merchant losing your credit card.”
Aside from how easy it is for consumers to make purchases, the mobile wallet also boasts high security so that Apple isn’t even capable of spying on the purchases that are being made. “I think it’s the first and only mobile payment system that’s easy, private, and secure,” said Cook. “I think we hit on all three key points that the customer cares about.”
However, during its initial launch, Bank of America customers were accidentally charged twice when using Apple Pay. An issue that was quickly rectified with refunds issued to those affected.
