Rite Aid stores no longer shun Apple Pay

The “tap and pay” approach is a few seconds faster than dipping a card, and is considered as fast as using a smartphone with NFC that activates a payment by bringing a phone near a payment terminal. That will include Apple Pay and Google Wallet for now and they will also accept Android Pay when it arrives.

Rite Aid today announced that its 4,600 stores across the United States will begin accepting Apple Pay and Google Wallet starting August 15, almost one year after the drugstore chain and CVS infamously disabled support for the iPhone-based mobile payments service nationwide.

Android Pay will also be accepted by the company.

To participate in the CurrentC system, MCX merchants reportedly agreed to only accept CurrentC payments exclusively, which explains why its members don’t work with Apple Pay or other systems. By recognizing the inevitable changeover to mobile payments, Rite Aid is adding yet another convenience as a reason to purchase your drug products from them.

Other MCX members have similarly announced upcoming support for Apple Pay despite previously resisting in favor of backing CurrentC exclusively.

The transition from blocking Apple Pay services to allowing support for the service has been due to Rite Aid’s end of contract with the Merchant eXchange list and its need to establish “an easy and convenient checkout process” for its customers.

“Increasingly, consumers are actively seeking out and incorporating mobile technology into many facets of their life, including their shopping and purchasing decisions”, said Ken Martindale, CEO of Rite Aid stores and president of Rite Aid Corporation. The CurrentC payment system has though still not launched.