Apple Pay may have fallen out of your vocabulary in the two months since it’s been introduced, but the company has been hard at work to make sure it sneaks back into your life one way or another.
Today, The New York Times announced that Apple has fortified relationships with what represents 90 percent of credit card purchase volume in the United States. These relationships are mostly with banks, now including Commerce Bank and TD Bank North, but also companies such as USAA and SunTrust.
But they’ve also been rustling up more retailers to accept the payment as well. Staples will now take Apple Pay at all of its 1,400 locations. Albertsons and Winn-Dixie will accept the payment now as well as Amway Center, which hosts the Orlando Magic. At Amway Center, Apple Pay will be accepted at food and retail kiosks during games.
Early adopters of the technology, like Whole Foods and McDonalds, have reported a high number of transactions have already taken place. Whole Foods reports that just in the first few days following release they processed more than 150,000 purchases made with Apple Pay. McDonald’s, which supports other versions of tap-and-pay, says that Apple Pay accounted for as much as half of all those transactions in November.
As of right now, 220,000 stores in the United States accept Apple’s payment solution and Apple is building an incredible base and it only seems to keep getting better. However, Forbes reports that it doesn’t even begin to touch the 6 million or more retail locations that exist in the U.S. While the company is making the right move by becoming available for as many banks and credit companies as possible, there’s still the need to be able to use the product.
Forbes does note that in order to meet new rules put in place by the credit card companies, all retailers have to update their card terminals by October of 2015. The new terminals will ensure the retailer isn’t liable for stolen card numbers and they’ll also come equipped so customers may use Apple Pay or other tap-and-pay applications. But these terminals aren’t free just because they’re required. Even with the threat of liability looming many shops just can’t afford the cost and won’t make the switch, leaving tap-to-pay a thing of the future. Unless Apple can afford to incentivize the owners into getting those new machines, Apple will be all ready to go but with no actual destination.
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