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CVS Launches Barcode-Based 'CVS Pay' in Lieu of Apple Pay

Thursday August 11, 2016 7:17 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple Pay holdout CVS today introduced CVS Pay, a new barcode-based mobile payment solution that integrates payment, prescription pickup, and its ExtraCare loyalty program into a single scan at checkout. CVS Pay is built into the newly updated CVS Pharmacy app for iOS and Android devices.

CVS-Pay
CVS Pay works with all major U.S. credit cards, including MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express, in addition to debit, Health Savings Account, and Flexible Spending Account cards. All verifications for prescriptions and payment like a signature or PIN occur within the CVS Pharmacy app.

After adding their credit or debit cards to the app, customers can show the store associate a barcode, or pickup number at drive-thru locations, to initiate payment. The associate will scan the barcode, ring up the purchases, let the customer choose a stored payment method, and then process the payment.

CVS-Pay-screenshot
CVS Pay is the pharmacy chain's first official mobile payments solution. CVS officially disabled Apple Pay shortly following its U.S. launch, prompting a response from Apple and even a potential class action lawsuit. At the time, CVS was committed to MCX and its indefinitely postponed payments solution CurrentC.

CVS Pay launches today in select markets, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, and a nationwide rollout to its over 9,600 pharmacy locations in the U.S. is expected to begin later this year. CVS Pharmacy is free on the App Store [Direct Link] for iPhone, with a companion Apple Watch app available.

Top Image: CVS Health via Fortune

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: CVS
[ 295 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

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DaveOP
40 months ago
This type of stuff is what caused me to stop shopping there entirely, and I only visit Walgreens now.
Rating: 99 Votes
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jacobh101
40 months ago
Why invest in NFC terminals at every location if you aren't going to allow the use of it by your customers?
Rating: 66 Votes
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dannyyankou
40 months ago
They just lost a customer

And it doesn't even have Wallet support. Amazing.
Rating: 38 Votes
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smacrumon
40 months ago
Yep, make things complicated for the customer. That's real smart... :rolleyes:
Rating: 32 Votes
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Trik
40 months ago
Am I the only one that doesn't want an app for every store I use?
Rating: 30 Votes
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Jeremy1026
40 months ago
Can I double tap my home button to bring up this payment option? No. Then no thanks CVS.
Rating: 25 Votes
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Zorn
40 months ago
Cool! Another convoluted QR code nonsense-pay solution! I'll stick to Walgreens for my $9 milk and $4 candy bars.
Rating: 20 Votes
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tasset
40 months ago
Haven't shopped there since the CurrenC debacle either. Walgreens gets my business now. I'm sure all these WalmartPay/TargetPay/CVSpay data grabs will be internally justifiable by each megacorp for the foreseeable future and all the rubes looking to save a nickel will use it. Hoping that the credit cards/banks step up and force merchants to enable NFC eventually though.
Rating: 17 Votes
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LordQ
40 months ago
So pretty much this?

Rating: 17 Votes
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TallGuyGT
40 months ago
I've been going to CVS for so long, I figured I'd give them the benefit of the doubt that they'd turn on Apple Pay once the CurrentC fiasco played out.

But this is just consumer hostile. They have NFC terminals, they actually used to work until Apple Pay was first released, and now they still refuse to turn NFC back on.

Count me in as another switching to Walgreens. It's closer to my new house anyway.
Rating: 15 Votes

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