CVS, Rite Aid disable Apple Pay

Woonsocket, R.I. –- CVS Health Corp. and Rite Aid. Corp., which have both used the near-field communication (NFC) technology that supports Apple Pay, have disabled their NFC payment systems to block Apple Pay from working in their stores.

Neither CVS nor RiteAid were named among the companies accepting Apple Pay when it was launched last month. The two pharmacy chains are part of a retailer consortium known as Merchant Customer Exchange, or MCX, which is planning its own rival mobile payment service (called CurrentC). The consortium includes a number of major retailers that do not accept Apple Pay, such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy. CurrentC is in pilot mode with nationwide rollout planned for next year.



According to the CurrentC website, the CurrentC app allows users to redeem exclusive offers, programs and coupons automatically, earn instant loyalty rewards and points, and pay with checking accounts, store gift cards and select store debit and credit cards. Security includes a four-digit passcode, a secure unique paycode attached to every purchase, and storage of information on an encrypted cloud rather than on the phone.



CVS has about 7,700 retail stores and Rite Aid has about 4,570 locations.