Best Buy will now offer the option of letting customers pay using Apple Pay – on Best Buy’s iPhone app for online payments from Monday and in Best Buy outlets later this year. This association of Apple’s with Best Buy is a significant move because Best Buy is one of the members of Merchant Customer Exchange - MCX manages its own payment app called CurrentC. The rivalry between Apply Pay and MCX was evident when MCX members RiteAid and CVS stopped accepting payments made through Apple Pay after it was launched. It is possible that Best Buy will offer both Apple Pay and CurrentC as payment options to its customers, though the company did not say so directly.
MCX says in its October blog post that all members of the association are free to make their own decisions about how to serve their customers. MCX was started by the merchants to reduce transaction fees. Customers fund the CurrentC app through their bank account rather than a credit card from a big company that charges the merchants huge fees for processing the payment. Apple Pay works with the more traditional debit and credit accounts with higher transaction fees – hence some MCX members were against other MCX using Apple Pay.
People using iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus can make their payments at Best Buy stores by placing their phones or Apple Watch at the checkout. Thus no more swiping or cash payments are required. The transaction is made secure by the iPhone’s fingerprint ID technology. Apple Pay is supported by Visa, Amercian Express and MasterCard.
Discover Financial Services also declared on Monday that their card holders can similarly make easy payments using their iPhone6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Mini3, iPad Air 2 or Apple Watches at collaborating stores.