As soon as mobile payments have debited and started to gain momentum, Rite Aid Inc. and CVS stores have reportedly stopped accepting Apple Pay for purchases on Thursday, USA Today reported.
The two stores are part of a group that has a competing mobile payment system in the works. Dunkin' Donuts, Lowe's, Wal-Mart and Gap are among the stores that are starting their own platform, called CurrentC, along with Rite Aid and CVS.
The two drug stores are already capable of using short - range wireless signals to allow smartphone payments, Yahoo Finance reported. Rite Aid has tweaked their reader so Apple Pay can't be used at all, according to leaked company memos.
"They are going to launch next year to a handful of retailers. They kind of want it to be something of their own where it's essentially drawing down from a checking account; a debit card type system," Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli said.
The smartphone payment market is expected to soar to $90 billion in 2017, up from $12.8 billion in 2012. But Apple will have to compete against Google Wallet, Softcard and Square for control of the digital marketplace.
CurrentC isn't associated with one bank, so it cuts card processing fees for users. Companies like Visa, MasterCard and American Express have partnered with Apple Pay as a way to up their purchases.
Santoli said that cell phones will eventually contain a number of credit and debit cards, similar to a conventional wallet.
"if everything is essentially located on your phone. With this app or that app you're paying with, it becomes some sort of centralized payment function, whether its PayPal or somebody else when you have multiple cards loaded on there," he said.
