Apple Pay will be accepted at Best Buy stores later this year
Apple’s mobile payments service, Apple Pay, has won another retail ally. Best Buy has announced that it will be accepting payments made through Apple Pay later this year. This may be a major shift for the retailer, as it is part of the Merchant Customer Exchange, a consortium of retailers that have an interested in mobile commerce. The Merchant Customer Exchange has its own mobile payments service, called CurrentC, which its member companies are meant to use exclusively.
Retailer breaks ranks with the Merchant Customer Exchange and CurrentC
CurrentC first attracted attention when retailers disabled some payment terminals so that they would not accept payments being made through Apple Pay. Instead, the Merchant Customer Exchange opted to release its own platform, which retailers had believed to be a more consumer friendly mobile payments solution. The platform is designed for convenience and ease-of-use, leveraging QR codes as a way to complete transactions. CurrentC has had trouble finding a place in the evolving retailer space, however, which is forcing some companies to look for better solutions.
Best Buy will continue to support CurrentC
Though Best Buy is showing support for Apple Pay, it will still support the Merchant Customer Exchange and CurrentC. The company is concerned with providing its customers with options when it comes to mobile payments. In the past, consumers have shown favor for having the ability to choose how they pay for products and how they do their shopping. Lacking options can create a poor retail experience for some consumers, especially if they are becoming more reliant on mobile devices.
Apple continues to seek out retail partners for its mobile payments service
Apple Pay has emerged as a prominent mobile payments service, but it has not yet found mainstream success. Many consumers prefer to use a variety of services, while others simply purchase products from e-commerce sites directly and not through applications. Apple Pay has been working to acquire more retail partners in order to gain traction with consumers, but has only managed to find moderate success.
Mobile shopping apps can be convenient, but they often lack the selection of products that can be found on conventional e-commerce sites. Apps also do not support large pictures, which can make it more difficult for consumers to see the products that they are interested in. There are also functionality issues with applications that can make shopping from a mobile device more complicated than it is meant to be. While websites are not perfect, they may offer consumers more options when it comes to shopping, especially when it comes to product selection.