Retailer JCPenney has abandoned Apple Pay payments

U.S. retailer JCPenney quietly dropped Apple Pay this month, according to media reports.

JCPenney, a 117-year-old chain, announced on Twitter that it would no longer support Apple pay’s payment method. But JCPenney had no background or further explanation at the time. JCPenney first launched an Apple pay test in 2015 and then expanded to all of its U.S. stores the following year before expanding to its mobile app.




JCPenney now claims the move was necessary on April 13, 2019, when the United States supported the deadline for EMV contactless chip functionality. So far, the terminals in which U.S. merchants accept contactless payments must actively support EMV contactless chip functionality, and traditional MSD (magnetic stripe data) Contactless technologies must be deactivated. Now it looks like JCPenney is not ready to comply, so it turns off all contactless payment options. However, it does not seem to preclude them from being re-enabled at a later time.



A statement from JCPenney said: “JCPenney has decided to cancel Apple Pay for our store and we apologise for any inconvenience this has caused. We will definitely forward your feedback to us for review.

Customers can still manually complete a transaction by inserting or swiping their physical credit card at the point-of-sale terminal at the JCPenney store.

Notably, JCPenney hinted at the low adoption rate of Apple pay in its customer base-because the “vast majority” of shoppers paid with physical cards.

Industry insiders said that JCPenney decided to abandon Apple pay payment method, May and the two sides on the customer purchase data ownership disagreement.

Customer data is an important part of JCPenney’s plan to relaunch its business.




Customer purchase data allows retailers to better target their customers through promotions, as stores are able to collect customers ‘ names and card numbers at the point of sale, which can then be used in conjunction with other demographic data, such as customer addresses, phone calls, and emails.

At the same time, Apple pay blocks this level of access-something customers like, but retailers traditionally don’t have customer data. In fact, the lack of access to customer data is one of the first reasons retailers are hesitant to warm up Apple pay.

This is like Wal-Mart and its Sam’s club using Wal-Mart to pay, rather than the use of Apple pay payment method a truth. Customer data is an important asset for retailers, and while consumers don’t like the way private privacy can be compromised, retailers love it.

Despite being rejected by JCPenney, Apple pay remains the top mobile payment solution. In January, 74 of the top 100 businesses in the United States were accepted, and 65% of all retail stores across the country were accepted.

Apple pay is also a safer form of payment, and today’s consumers prefer this form of payment.