Apple Pay just made shopping at Walgreens a heck of a lot easier. Customers who use Apple Pay will no longer need to scan their rewards cards to earn points on purchases. Walgreens is the the first retailer to integrate its loyalty program with the mobile payment system. This is a huge step for Apple Pay’s transition from just a pure payment system to the growing market for e-commerce. Allowing the use of the rewards cards lets Apple Pay to start offering coupons, loyalty discounts and more, incentivizing users to use the service more often — and this is getting other major players interested.
Walgreens may be the first retailer to integrate their rewards programs, but they certainly aren’t the last. Kohls, Dunkin Donuts, Panera, and several others are already on board to make the transition. The addition of this functionality moves Apple closer to taking over your entire wallet. Apple believes that the new payment terminals are getting confusing, with the microchipped cards that need to be inserted instead of swiped. Apple Pay eliminates the need to swipe or insert cards, all you have to do is tap and go. But while Apple execs are convinced that more and more people will switch over to their payment system in the near future, the true justification for phone-commerce wi
While having everything on your phone might make your wallet a little easier to manage, we don’t see how it makes paying any easier. Using a debit or credit card isn’t so hard that it instantly makes life easier to use Apple Pay. What happens if your phone dies before you get a chance to pay? There are a multitude of problems that could arise. What do you think? Are you going to be using Apple Pay as your main form of payment?