Apple Pay adds select retail credit cards, rewards programs

Cupertino, Calif. – Apple Inc. is enacting a number of significant enhancements to its Apple Pay mobile payment app, including adding support for rewards programs and store-issued credit and debit cards. During a June 8 keynote address at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Jennifer Bailey, VP of Apple Pay, said that retailers, including Dunkin' Donuts, Walgreens, Wegmans, and Kohl's, will support the new reward card functionality.



“By integrating with Apple Pay in all of our stores, Kohl’s customers can choose how they want to pay, whether using their Kohl’s Charge or Yes2You Rewards loyalty points, payments are easy and secure,” said Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s chairman, CEO and president.



Adding to the convenience, customers simply have to hold their iOS device up to the reader at the retailer’s POS and the correct reward card will automatically be selected.



A new store-finder feature on Apple’s new iOS 9 Maps app will show consumers where retailers who accept Apple Pay are located. And U.K. consumers will be able to join the Apple Pay fun starting in July, when eight leading U.K. banks will begin supporting the mobile payment service.



The mobile payments service will launch in the United Kingdom next month. It will be available at more than 250,000 locations with support from eight of the U.K.’s most established banks, across all of the major credit and debit card networks.



Other upcoming changes include the availability of an Apple Pay Square card reader at Apple Store locations later in 2015. This will allow any retailer who accepts Square payments to also accept Apple Pay, which would open Apple Pay to much smaller retailers. Apple had previously announced the Square partnership, but this marks the company revealing timing and specifics of how it will work.



Bailey said Apple expects to have 1 million merchant locations accepting Apple Pay as of July 2015. Currently more than 2,500 banks, as well as MasterCard, Visa and American Express, support Apple Pay. Discover will start supporting Apple Pay in fall 2015.



Other changes include renaming the Apple Passbook app to Apple Wallet.