Local Apple fans will be happy to hear that Wegmans will be one of the first stores in the nation to roll out Apple Pay. The new system of keeping encrypted credit and debit information on iPhones (and Apple Watches) allows customers to leave their cards at home. It is anticipated that added conveniences such as Apple Pay might mark the end of credit cards all together.
The news of Wegmans being one of the first to accept Apple Pay was announced yesterday at the Apple Keynote. Wegmans joins approximately 200,000 retailers including Whole Foods, Walgreens, Nike, etc. The service will soon be made available for all Apple iPhone 6 owners. Each retailer will have a custom Apple Pay scanner installed to accept payments.
When making a purchase, users will simply scan their fingerprint on the phone, then wave it much the same way they would a credit card. Each transaction is given a new encrypted number, in order to thwart would-be hackers. Apple says that the system is much safer than lost or stolen credit cards that can then be used to make purchases. A thief would literally need your phone and your finger to make a purchase.
Apple is not the only Mobile Wallet to enter the market, and there are some large chain stores that are diversifying from the Apple Pay route. According to USA Today, one co-op of retailers bucking the Apple trend, called Merchant Customer Exchange, will be launching an app called CURRENTC that will interact with existing retail scanners. That app works with a combination of passcodes and bar codes (which are scanned). Data is then stored securely on the Cloud.
Either way that you look at it, the Mobile Wallets are coming, and iPhone 6 customers will soon be able to try out the newfangled payment system at a Wegmans location near them. For non-i-Phone users, don’t worry… other MW payment systems are not far behind.