In the wake of Rite Aid reportedly dropping support for Apple Pay by closing its NFC-based payment systems comes word of another rumor that claims another major pharmacy chain in the US, CVS, could be doing the exact same thing.

According to MacRumors, CVS sent out an email to its stores informing them of the decision to remove NFC payment support, which would affect both Apple Pay and Google Wallet. There's no word on why the company has made this rather sudden decision. However, competitor Walgreens still supports Apple Pay. Does this affect your decision to shop at certain pharmacy stores?

Source: MacRumors

Apple Pay launched last week. In store, it's a secure way to pay for items using existing NFC technology, authorized by Touch ID fingerprint technology. It in no way precludes the use of other NFC-enabled payment systems, including credit and debit cards, or other platforms or apps. It's easy to use, lightning fast, and extremely customer friendly. It's also private, not releasing transactional information beyond what the retailer needs to process the payment. So, CVS and Rite Aid are both going so far as to disable NFC support in general just to make sure no one tries to use Apple Pay in their stores. Yes, they'd rather hobble their transactional systems entirely than let their customers use Apple Pay. They'd rather use their own system, CurrentC, which looks about as insecure, non-private, and poorly architected as you'd imagine it would.

While I'm sure retailers want transactional data, I don't think they really need it. Most customers will willingly give away far more personal information in exchange for "loyalty program" participation anyway, and market basket analysis is sophisticated enough that retailers can get significant marketing data anyway. CurrentC smells like a way to get loyalty-level data without having to provide commensurate rewards, and if there's a holy grail in retail, it's the lowest possible offer.

Also last week, Apple shipped the iPad Air 2 with an Apple SIM. It allows customers to choose their carrier and plan dynamically and, theoretically, change their carrier as their needs or location change. Most carriers around the world don't support it. Verizon in the U.S. doesn't support it. AT&T does support it, but decided to lock it to their network the moment you choose one of their plans, effectively rendering its dynamism useless. Yes, they'd rather waste SIM cards then let their customers shop around.

Neither of these are new or novel occurrences. The entertainment industry has, for example, tries to foist several dodgy digital-rights management schemes on us over the years, which have done little more than ensure legitimate customers have had poor to terrible viewing experiences. Witness Ultraviolet.

The result is I refuse to use Ultraviolet. If and when Apple SIM or Apple Pay come to Canada, I will refuse to use any carrier or retailer that doesn't support them.

Apple is currently deploying technologies that are in my best interest as a consumer. (They can afford to based on their hardware-centric business model.) Those who aren't supporting those technologies are doing it for their own, often diametrically opposed, best interests. If they won't support the technologies that support me, I won't support them.

I understand they fear what they can't control. I understand they want to profit off my private information. I understand they want to take years to deploy inferior, sum-of-all-compromises systems.

I just don't care. And I'll tell them that with my voice and with my wallet — my hopefully soon-to-be Apple Pay powered wallet.

If you want to tell them as well, support the retailers who support the technologies you want to use, and tell the ones who don't that, if they want your business, they better change their priorities. You can also contact them directly to voice your concerns. Please remember to be polite; the person reading your correspondence is just doing their job.

• @cvs_extra, email form, 1-800-SHOP-CVS (1-800-746-7287), CVS Corporation Customer Relations, One CVS Drive, Woonsocket, RI 02895
• @riteaid, email form, 1-800-RITE AID (1-800-748-3243), Rite Aid Customer Relations, P.O. Box 3165, Harrisburg , PA 17105

Apple Pay is a great new feature of iOS 8.1 and allows you to securely pay for purchases both online and for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, at many merchants who support NFC payments as well. To get started, you can use the default payment method you use for iTunes and App Store purchases, and it only takes a few taps!

How to link your iTunes payment method to Apple Pay in just a few taps

1. Launch the Passbook app on your iPhone or iPad that's compatible with Apple Pay.
2. Pull down from the top of the screen to reveal the plus sign— tap on the plus sign.
3. Tap on Set Up Apple Pay.
4. Log in to your iCloud account when prompted.
5. Tap on Use Card on File with iTunes.
6. Verify the 3 digit security code on the back of your credit card.
7. Accept the terms and conditions.
8. You're done!

That's all there is to it! Apple Pay may take a few seconds to activate your card for use but that's all you've got to do. You'll receive a notification when your card is ready to use!

Apple is reportedly looking into uses for NFC beyond Apple Pay. Apple is apparently looking into expanding the utility of the NFC found in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus into areas like keycards and transit tickets. They are also supposedly in early talks with some companies. According to The Information

The Apple representatives have talked to technology providers like HID Global and Cubic, which enable secure access to buildings and transit fare systems, respectively, said people briefed on the discussions. Spokespeople for the companies declined to comment about any discussions with Apple, but executives there discussed how they could integrate their systems with the iPhone.

This is similar to how Apple has handled Touch ID, which was first only used to secure your device and purchase items through Apple's stores. Apple has now introduced a Touch ID developer API. While the NFC chip on the iPhone 6 might be locked to Apple Pay for now, it's not hard to imagine that Apple would broaden its range in the future.

What would you like to see the NFC on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus used for? Sound off in the comments.

Source: The Information

Do you need more incentive to hop on the Apple Pay bandwagon? Well you're in luck if you're a Wells Fargo customer. The bank is currently running a promotion by which customers who use their credit card with Apple Pay will receive $20. Those who opt to use their Wells Fargo debit card won't be left out, as they will also score a slightly smaller $10.

All you have to do to take advantage of this promotion is attach your Wells Fargo credit or debit card to Passbook and make a purchase with it using Apple Pay by November 30th. The payment will then come in the form of a credit to your statement.

It is interesting to see the vigor with which banks are aligning themselves with Apple, as some retailers have chosen to push back on the technology.

Are you a Wells Fargo customer planning on taking advantage of this cash grab? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Wells Fargo (Credit), Wells Fargo (Debit)

After the debacle of CVS and Rite Aid turning off NFC in their payment terminals inside stores and thus shutting out Apple Pay on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus customers from mobile payments, Apple had gone on record to issue a response, stating that so far customers and merchants who support Apple Pay are happy with the service.

CVS, which is a member of another mobile payment consortium called CurrentC, said:

At this time CVS/pharmacy cannot accept Apple Pay or other mobile payments that use NFC technology. We are in the process of evaluating mobile payment options for our customers.

In a statement to Business Insider, Apple said:

The feedback we are getting from customers and retailers about Apple Pay is overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic. We are working to get as many merchants as possible to support this convenient, secure and private payment option for consumers. Many retailers have already seen the benefits and are delighting their customers at over 220,000 locations.

Apple's statement is similar to what it had said when it gave an update to Apple Pay's status at the iPad launch keynote recently.

Another large retailer, WalMart, which does not support NFC or Apple Pay at this time, is also part of the competing CurrentC consortium as Rite Aid and CVS, offered the following explanation:

There are certainly a lot of compelling technologies being developed, which is great for the mobile-commerce industry as a whole. Ultimately, what matters is that consumers have a payment option that is widely accepted, secure and developed with their best interests in mind. MCX member merchants already collectively serve a majority of Americans every day. MCX's members believe merchants are in the best position to provide a mobile solution because of their deep insights into their customers' shopping and buying experiences.

Have you used Apple Pay? What are your impressions with Apple's service and implementation?

Source: Business Insider 1, 2

Over the last few days, CVS and Rite Aid have disabled NFC technology at their retail outlets to prevent customers from using Apple Pay. It's been reported that this is due to an existing deal in place with a system called CurrentC, which involves the use of an app, QR codes, your bank account, and their servers. Walmart recently explained MCX's — the consortium behind CurrentC — position to Business Insider as follows:

There are certainly a lot of compelling technologies being developed, which is great for the mobile-commerce industry as a whole. Ultimately, what matters is that consumers have a payment option that is widely accepted, secure and developed with their best interests in mind. MCX member merchants already collectively serve a majority of Americans every day. MCX's members believe merchants are in the best position to provide a mobile solution because of their deep insights into their customers' shopping and buying experiences.

It's also been suggested that CurrentC will help retailers avoid credit card transaction fees while also letting them mine personal data. With that in mind, here are some questions about MCX and the CurrentC app:

1. Why do they want to retrieve your device's MAC address? (Don't worry, as of iOS 7, the OS returns a fake MAC address of 02:00:00:00:00:00 which is what CurrentC seems to be sending to their servers)

2. Why do they want to log your device name, WiFi network name, and number of running processes?

3. Why do they use a unique device ID that persists across multiple installs?

4. Why do they send pings every 2 seconds?

Oh and they send these pings like every 2 seconds because apparently they're super needy. pic.twitter.com/Br7QlqcObG

— Nick Arnott (@noir) October 28, 2014

To their credit, CurrentC does employ SSL pinning to protect the application's traffic, but at this point it's hard to know if that's to protect their users, or their questionable data transmissions.

I haven't been able to test with a registered account yet, but at first glance what CurrentC is actually doing seems far more aligned with the vested self-interest of retailers than anything remotely connected to providing a great shopping experience for customers.

At the Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference, Tim Cook said that the setbacks faced by Apple Pay amounted to a skirmish, and that the payment service itself was off to a great start.

Cook mentioned that in the first 72 hours of the service going live, over one million credit cards have been activated on Apple Pay, making it the number one mobile payment system in the US. In addition, Cook announced plans to work with Alibaba's Jack Ma to integrate Apple Pay with the Chinese retailer's Alipay service.

According to Tim Cook:

We've been at it for a week. In the first 72 hours, we had gone over the 1 million mark in activation of cards. We are already No. 1. We are more than the total of the other guys. We've only been at it a week. I feel fantastic. You are only relevant as a retailer or merchant if your customers love you. It's the first and only mobile payment system that's easy, private and secure.

When asked about working with Jack Ma:

Cook mentioned that while he was confident about the success of Apple Pay in the long run, the bulk of the revenue and profit for the next three to five years was likely to come from the iPhone. During the conference, Cook also talked about the evolution of Apple TV as well as the upcoming Apple Watch.

What are your thoughts on the statements made by Tim Cook today?

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Just as quickly as CurrentC popped into the limelight, questions arose around the companies intentions. Even though I don't have an invite for CurrentC's invite-only mobile payments and loyalty rewards system, I decided to take a look. I posted some initial findings on Twitter and a brief summary on iMore, but wanted to do a more in-depth technical post for anybody who was curious.

On launch, the app immediately does a few things. First, it starts sending pings to https://my.currentc.com/mobile/pinggateway every two seconds or so. No interesting data is sent in the requests and blocking them seems to have no impact on the app. Next, a deviceState request goes out. In the request are your device type (iPhone or iPad) and a unique device identifier. This identifier is stored in the device keychain so even if you delete the app and re-install, it persists, allowing CurrentC to track users across app installs. The third and last request seen on launch is a call to Localytics. Localytics is a mobile analytics company and is used in countless other apps. As with the many other apps using Localytics, this call seems to include a variety of analytics information: not surprising for many apps, and not surprising for CurrentC (though it probably should be for an app seeking to handle payments and personal data).

After you've launched CurrentC you're given two options: I Have An Invitation or I Need An Invitation. If you tap I Have An Invitation you'll be asked for your email address and ZIP code. Entering an email that hasn't been invited yet will kick you back to the first screen and give you a message saying they'll let you know when CurrentC is available in your area. A concerning behavior I saw here is that regardless of what email you enter, CurrentC's service will respond with a large dictionary of user data.

Now, I have to stress here, I never got CurrentC to return me a real user's data. However, the fact that these fields exist is a good indicator that CurrentC plans to collect this data, and also why on Earth would you ever return these fields without any sort of authentication first? I never hit on an email that appeared to be a valid account, but I was honestly too nervous to keep trying given the data it seemed eager to send back.

While trying a number of different email addresses I discovered that any email address ending in @mcx.com will be accepted on the "I Have An Invitation" view and allow you to advance in the registration process. The check for the @mcx.com domain seems to be done locally. Before you get too excited, after registering, you will need to activate your account through a confirmation email, which will be sent to the @mcx.com email address you probably don't have access to. After realizing the check was done locally, I attempted to modify the request after it left the device (passing the local check with an @mcx.com email, but sending a gmail address on to the server), but after attempting to register, the server returned an error. So it seems that CurrentC is actually checking server-side to see if the email you're using to register was actually invited.

However, another possibility may exist. Any time you register an email in the app, a request is sent to a CurrentC endpoint that checks if the email already exists or not. If the email already exists (including users who have requested an invite, but not actually registered), the service returns a 200 OK message. If the email doesn't exist in CurrentC's system, then the server will return an error. This API call doesn't require any sort of authentication, so anybody is free to make as many requests as they want in order to determine user email addresses that have been registered with CurrentC's system. An attacker could use this to try and identify accounts that they should try to brute force, or possibly even sign up using an email address that was invited, but has not yet registered. Though without some sort of account to test on, this is informed speculation.

As an extra tidbit of info, it also looks like MCX (the entity behind CurrentC) is using Paydiant's white-label mobile payment platform.

I have additional concerns about CurrentC, but am hoping to hear back from them before disclosing them. Needless to say, CurrentC doesn't look like a great app for consumers to trust their information with.

With CurrentC, you're not the customer — you're the product being sold.

Sometimes it's nice to watch from the sidelines as your rivals are beaten up, and Walgreens is doing just that as CVS and Rite Aid take heat for dropping support for Apple Pay. On the company's twitter account tonight, Walgreens addressed iPhone owners by saying "Hey, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users! The choice is yours: Use #ApplePay today at any of our stores!"

The jab was accompanied by an image of the hashtag "#ChoiceIsEverything" with both the Walgreens and Apple Pay logo underneath.

There's no telling when the dust will settle around the mobile payment battle, but one thing is for certain: Walgreens is more than willing to take advantage of the free publicity.

Source: Twitter

There's been a bit of a tizzy recently after several US retailers dropped support for NFC payments in an effort to thwart Apple Pay, and the nation's largest retailer has chimed in with their own explanation as to why they did so. The retailer is Walmart, and they're the leading force behind the competing CurrentC payment system developed by the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX). Our own Nick Arnott did some digging into what the CurrentC app transmits and came away unsettled. To recap, CurrentC cuts out the credit card company, instead linking directly into the checking accounts of users and offering a QR code to scan at participating retailers. Apple Pay, meanwhile, uses a combination of NFC, Touch ID authentication, and a tokenized one-time-use card number generator hooked up to the user's credit card accounts to make payments.

Walmart, unsurprisingly, believes that their solution is the better solution:

There are certainly a lot of compelling technologies being developed, which is great for the mobile-commerce industry as a whole. Ultimately, what matters is that consumers have a payment option that is widely accepted, secure, and developed with their best interests in mind. MCX member merchants already collectively serve a majority of Americans every day. MCX's members believe merchants are in the best position to provide a mobile solution because of their deep insights into their customers' shopping and buying experiences.

What this doesn't address is why NFC and Apple Pay had to be turned off. We can surmise that the reason is that Walmart and other MCX retailers see Apple Pay as a serious threat to CurrentC, and want to ensure that it isn't "widely accepted." What's truly laughable is stating that CurrentC is developer with the best interests of customers in mind. It absolutely is not.

While it's true that credit cards aren't also created with the best interests of customers in mind, when coupled with Apple Pay they are markedly more secure than CurrentC could ever hope to be. Here are just a few ways:

• Touch ID authentication ensures that only users authorized at the device level can make payments.
• NFC keeps the transmission distances down to a few inches versus showing a visible QR code.
• Token-generated single-use card numbers ensure that in the event of a retailer breach, the hackers get a card number that's already worthless instead of your real card number
• Accessing your credit card gives users additional spending power versus drawing from a cash account, lets users earn points, miles, or whatever perks are on their favorite cards, and adds a layer of intermediation between a security failure and your money.

There are two other points where CurrentC is hugely beneficial to the retailers. Though setting up and running the system is going to be hugely expensive, it'll cost them less than the billions of dollars they pay annually in credit card fees. But, perhaps more importantly to them, it's a huge data collection operation, allowing a conglomeration of retailers to track your purchasing and spending habits and market even more effectively to you than ever before. They can do that now with just your credit card number (and there's a reason they push store loyalty cards so hard), but Apple Pay's tokenized numbers would absolutely destroy any hope of tracking custom spending for those that opt out of such programs.

It's entirely understandable why Walmart wouldn't want Apple Pay to succeed. But at the same time, it's almost funny to see them asserting that they're offering their customers what they want and need instead of just offering them choice. Shutting off NFC payments to wound Apple Pay isn't about customers — it's about data mining and nothing else.

But will retailers like Walmart and CVS deliberately dropping support for Apple Pay change how and where you shop?

Source: Business Insider

Vector is a news and analysis show focusing on the biggest stories, hottest trends, and most important issues in technology and popular culture. On this week's show — Making more debt than money, Apple Pay vs. CurrentC, software as art, #GamerGate, and paintball mishaps. With Georgia Dow, Guy English, Dave Wiskus, Rene Ritchie.

• Subscribe in iTunes
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Show notes

• CVS disabling NFC and Apple Pay
• More on CurrentC
• Why they're doing it
• Who gets caught in the crossfire
• Vote with your digital wallet
• In-depth look at CurrentC and the personal data they want to collect
• Isometric 24: Slippery like a barrel roll
• ATP 88: Standing on opposite sides of the gym
• NSFW: GamerGate, misogyny, and what to do from here

Panel

• Georgia Dow of Isometric
• Guy English of Kickingbear
• Dave Wiskus of Better Elevation
• Rene Ritchie of Mobile Nations

Feedback

Question, comment, recommendation, or something you want us to follow up on for the next show?

• Email vector@mobilenations.com or leave a comment below.

Apple Pay lets you not only make purchases with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus at local retailers that support the service, but also online through many apps, which also supports many more devices. Therefore, it's important to make sure your shipping and billing information is correct so merchants know where to send all the things!

How to update and manage your shipping and billing info for Apple Pay

1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 8.1 or later.
2. Tap on Passbook & Apple Pay.
3. Tap on either Billing Address or Shipping Address.
4. Enter any additional addresses you need to, but tap on one address that you'd like to set as a default for each.

That's all there is to it. Apple pay will abide by the settings you've chosen. If you ever need to change your billing or shipping, just repeat the same steps again. This is handy if you have work and home addresses that you choose for shipping equally. It'll save you some time when checking out so you can just select them instead of having to enter information every time.

CurrentC partner Meijer isn't abandoning Apple Pay, unlike most other CurrentC retailers. The regional grocery chain has decided not to switch off its NFC readers, something that has been done in other retailers planning to accept CurrentC, like CVS and RiteAid. Meijer's NFC readers were installed years ago for its own branded MasterCard and Visa cards, and a Meijer spokesperson confirmed that they can be used with Apple Pay

From Michigan Live:

"If a customer has Apple Pay capability, our hardware works with it," Guglielmi said.

Meijer is still listed as a partner on the MCX CurrentC website, as well as on the Apple Pay site. While MCX says that there is no fee for leaving CurrentC, there are indications that there is a penalty for supporting Apple Pay and CurrentC at the same time. As CurrentC has yet to roll out to customers outside of their pilot program, it's unclear what, if any, penalty Meijer might face for supporting both.

When asked about Meijer's decision, MCX COO Scott Rankin gave the following answer to Re/code:

"I think if they want to go forward and continue to accept Apple Pay, down the road at some point if they want to be a customer of MCX and roll out CurrentC and offer it to customers that's great."

Do you think Meijer is making the right decision in continuing to support NFC payments? Leave your thoughts with us in the comments.

Source: Michigan Live, Re/code

With Apple Pay you can conveniently and securely make payments online, and for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users, at many merchants that accept NFC payments. Simply add your cards and your on your way. But what if you cancel a card or it's no longer valid? Luckily, removing them from Apple Pay is easy enough!

How to delete a card from Apple Pay on iPhone and iPad

1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad that contains the Apple Pay card you need to delete.
2. Tap on Passbook & Apple Pay.
3. Tap on the credit card you'd like to delete.
4. Tap on Remove Card— you'll need to scroll all the way to the bottom.

That's all there is to it! The card you removed will no longer be eligible for use with Apple Pay on that particular device. Keep in mind however that Apple Pay works on a per device basis so you'll need to remove that particular card from every device it's linked to individually. Alternately, you can remove all your linked cards from a specific device remotely if you need to via iCloud.com. You can follow our guide below if that suits your needs better!

• How to remotely delete all your credit card accounts from Apple Pay

Six new banks have started supporting Apple Pay beginning today. Cards from USAA, U.S. Bank, Navy Federal, PNC, Barclaycard, and M&T Bank are all now working with Apple's digital wallet. Most of these banks had been listed as Apple Pay partners coming "later this year" on Apple's website, with earlier reports claiming that support would arrive on November 7.

Apple Pay initially rolled out with the launch of iOS 8.1 last month. It's U.S.-only for now, though Apple is reportedly working on getting it up and running in other countries. Apple Pay is currently available on the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3.

Source: 9to5Mac

Burger King shoppers might want to pay for their next Whopper with Apple Pay on their iPhones, but The King has different plans for them: their own app. Burger King and PayPal today unveiled a partnership that will see the Burger King iOS app updated to support making in-store payments via PayPal instead instead of using Apple's credit card-reliant system. Burger King hasn't made any official moves with their current Apple Pay-compatible NFC payment installations, but given the reaction towards MCX and CurrentC retailers shutting down Apple Pay, we hope they'd be hesitant about doing so.

In a blog post, PayPal stated:

"With the BURGER KING App, guests can receive exclusive offers and discounts at BK restaurants, find their closest BK restaurant, and browse the menu and nutritional information. We will be rolling out later this quarter across the United States to all locations, BK restaurant guests will be able to securely pay with PayPal by simply launching the app and when they select to pay with PayPal they will be prompted with a four digit pin to pay.

Burger King announced plans earlier this year to offer customers a way to pay for their meals via their iPhone app. McDonald's, the nation's biggest fast food restaurant, has already sided with Apple's mobile payment system, Apple Pay. So far there's no word if Burger King will add Apple Pay support as well.

Source: PayPal

Details of the terms and conditions that banks and credit card companies will have to follow for the new Apple Pay system have reportedly been revealed by a financial analyst, including word that Apple will get 15 basis points for each credit card transaction, along with half a penny for each debit card use.

Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, revealed some more specific details about Apple Pay's terms:

• On behalf of Apple, the networks will collect the portion of interchange owed to the company from the issues and will only then pass along the fees to Apple.
• Issuers must allow at least 95 percent of the cards in their portfolio to participate in Apple Pay, which may not necessarily include gift cards or ATM-only cards.
• Apple has the ability to request up to two times a year that the amounts the issuers pay are accurate. Apple reserves the rights to seek advice from independent auditors to verify accuracy.
• Issuers must supply Apple with various data statistics in nearly three dozen categories, including transaction and purchase volume data, top 100 merchants by purchase volume and average ticket.

Source: Benzinga

A law firm is now looking into filing a class action suit against retailers that have blocked Apple Pay. If filed, the suit targets both CVS and Rite Aid, neither of which are Apple Pay partners and both had subsequently blocked Apple Pay from working within their respective stores. The law firm of Schubert Jonkheer & Kolbe are now looking into whether or not the actions of CVS, Rite Aid, and other Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) members may be violating antitrust laws.

Both CVS and Rite Aid are members of MCX, along with other leading retailers like Walmart. MCX is backing its own CurrentC mobile payment standard, a rival to Apple Pay and NFC-based Google Wallet and Softcard. MCX members must commit to accepting CurrentC exclusively for a period of time so Apple Pay was shut out.

Schubert, Jonckheer & Kolbe said:

In light of this situation, Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe is investigating whether CVS and Rite Aid violated the antitrust laws by banding together with other MCX members in a decision to boycott other payments systems, including Apple Pay. Consumers with phones that support Apple Pay may be able to participate in a class action to restore the service at CVS and Rite Aid retail stores.

The firm is asking customers with an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, or Android device with Google Wallet to contact them at nschubert@schubertlawfirm.com or by phone at 415-788-4220 as part of their investigation.

Source: Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe