While many tech companies seem as though they are on a holy quest to make sure that no one has to pull a credit card out of their pants again, not everyone is onboard. Apple has termed 2015 the “year of Apple Pay,” a title almost as meaningful as Nintendo’s declaration that 2013 was the “year of Luigi.”
“Not everyone is committed to Apple’s vision of disrupting the way people buy things.”
In an interview with Reuters, an Apple spokesperson said that, “We’ve spoken to all of the top 200 merchants in the U.S., and about half will accept Apple Pay this year.” Yet, Reuters found that fewer than a quarter of retailers actually do accept Apple Pay, and two thirds have confirmed they will not be supporting the service this year.
The issue is that these retailers aren’t avoiding Apple Pay for no reason. Most have cited insufficient consumer demand as the biggest reason why they haven’t backed the service. Others have said that they want the data access and ability to send customized advertisements to customers like they currently can with credit card information. What possible benefit do retailers have to use a service that takes away their ability to advertise?
Cards versus Apple
The major difference between a credit card and Apple Pay is that a card offers much more data to retailers. When a customer uses a card to pay for an item for a company, the retailer gets that person’s name and card number. When cross-referencing that information to demographic data like addresses, emails and phone numbers, it is much easier for companies to target customers with promotions specific to them.
Credit cards, so far, aren’t going anywhere
Murky depths in Apple Pay
There are some organizations that are receiving benefits from adopting mobile payment. Whole Foods, for example, has seen Apple Pay account for two percent of its sales and expects that to continue to rise. This suggests that some demographics are much more likely to make use of Apple Pay. What may happen is a sort of hybrid approach to mobile payments – certain types of boutique, highly-priced establishments will utilize them, while budget-priced locations stick to cards. This won’t be a bad thing necessarily, but it certainly doesn’t signal a complete revolution in payment.
