Apple Pay is on the way, and it’s preemptively being heralded the future of paying for things. Even banks think Apple Pay is a great move, saying it could usher in a new era of security for the banking industry.
However, there are a few others Apple needs to convince in order for this whole thing to work. Namely, retailers, and some notable ones aren’t on board yet.
Perhaps the most surprising retailer that won’t support Apple Pay is Best Buy. The big box electronic shop—and longtime partner with Apple—won’t allow you to pay for your new gadget with your iPhone.
“While we will not be accepting Apple Pay at this time, we will continue to evaluate it as an option, as well as several other competing platforms,” Best Buy spokesman Jeff Shelman told us.
H&M, the ultra-popular clothing company, said it won’t be utilizing Apple Pay in its stores either. An H&M press officer told the Daily Dot “we always look into how we can make our customers shopping experience even better, but at the moment there are no concrete plans to introduce Apple Pay.”
High-end retailer Coach says mobile payments in their stores are “important to our overall customer experience” but that it does “not have immediate plans for [a] rollout” of Apple Pay.
Bed, Bath & Beyond spokeswoman Jessica Joyce said the company is “unable to participate” in Apple Pay. Belk also said Apple Pay is a no-go. A spokesperson for the department store told us “we don’t have the capability to accept Apple Pay right now.”
Both Sears and Kmart won’t be accepting the new payment method, with a Sears Holdings spokesperson stating “we will not be offering Apple Pay at this time.”
Retailers aren’t the only ones who won’t be supporting Apple Pay anytime soon. BP said its gas stations won’t support Apple Pay in 2014, and that support may not come until 2016.
BP spokesperson Scott Dean said the company “won’t be in a position to do this in 2014, but we’re working with our marketers (BP gas stations are independently owned and operated) to upgrade our retail site technology progressively over the next two years and as part of those upgrades we will be setting ourselves up to be ready for mobile payments.”
Grocery chain Publix is another addition to the “no” list, with a spokesperson telling the Daily Dot “While we are always looking for ways to enhance our customers shopping experience, at this time, we gave no plans to incorporate Apple Pay.”
It gets worse: A Pizza Hut spokesperson said noted that Apple Pay is a “great product” but Pizza Hut has “no immediate plans” to support Apple Pay in its restaurants. KFC spokesperson Rodrigo says the company is “looking into the prospect of accepting Apple Pay” in its restaurants, but said that “no timetable has been set at the moment.”
While noting that it had some conversations with Apple, Chipotle spokesperson Chris Arnold said “We have not signed on as of now.”
Starbucks spokesperson Maggie Jantzen tells the Daily Dot while the company will integrate Apple Pay into its iPhone app, it is “not currently able to accept NFC payments in our stores.”
With an event less than a week away, Apple is expected to discuss Apple Pay once again, but right now, the biggest hurdle may be getting companies on board with the service, and to set definitive timetables for a release. As it stands, most retailers seem interested, but not interested enough to implement the technology any time soon.
Images via Apple.com | Remix by Jason Reed
