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JCPenney Removes Apple Pay Support From Its Retail Stores and Mobile App [Updated]

Monday April 22, 2019 2:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
American department store JCPenney has quietly removed support for Apple Pay from its retail stores, it has emerged.


The withdrawal of support for Apple's digital payment system was confirmed on Saturday by the company's customer service Twitter account in response to a query, but offered no reason for its decision.


The option to use Apple Pay at checkout in the JCPenney iOS app has also been removed, reports Appleosophy, catching many mobile shoppers off guard.

The retailer began trialing Apple Pay in late 2015, before rolling it out to all of its stores across the United States and adding support for the payment method to its app for iPhone and iPad shortly after.

JCPenney also made its credit card available on Apple Pay, enabling customers to earn shopping points through its JCPenney Rewards loyalty program, directly in the Wallet app on iPhone.

Assuming JCPenney still takes NFC contactless payments, it's unclear whether the company has switched merchant account providers to one that doesn't support Apple Pay, or has simply disabled support for Apple's digital wallet at its transaction terminals. We've contacted JCPenney for more information on their reasoning behind the decision and will update this article if we learn more.

Update: In a statement to TechCrunch, JCPenney says that it stopped supporting Apple Pay and other contactless payments because of an April 13 deadline from Visa for retiring legacy magnetic stripe (MSD) contactless technology in favor of more secure EMV technology.
A third-party credit card brand made the requirement for all merchants to actively support EMV contactless functionality effective April 13, retiring the legacy MSD contactless technology in place. Given the resources and lead time associated with meeting the new mandate, JCPenney chose to suspend all contactless payment options until a later date. Customers still have the ability to complete their transactions manually by inserting or swiping their physical credit cards at our point-of-sale terminals in stores, an option employed by the vast majority of JCPenney shoppers.
Rather than upgrading its technology, JCPenney opted to discontinue contactless payment support, at least for the time being.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: JCPenney
[ 281 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

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bobob
4 weeks ago

Not surprising that iPhone is losing features (headphone jack, 32bit support, apple pay).

It's great to see someone stepping up to lead the charge for the return of 32bit support!
Rating: 72 Votes
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farewelwilliams
4 weeks ago

My best guess: Apple was trying to hike fees and milk them some more - and since JCP are already not doing great, they had to call it quits.

it's more likely that using Apple pay prevents JCP from gathering purchase data since Apple Pay encrypts it
Rating: 71 Votes
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daveak
4 weeks ago

My best guess: Apple was trying to hike fees and milk them some more - and since JCP are already not doing great, they had to call it quits.


What fees? Apple Pay is just contactless payment, you can accept it without even knowing Apple exist.
Rating: 42 Votes
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kriebe
4 weeks ago
And Apple is really worried about losing a company that doesn't look like it's going to make it much longer anyway.
Rating: 42 Votes
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4jasontv
4 weeks ago

Can’t say I use Apple Pay at stores as it is. Too much hassle. Not enough incentive from Apple. This Apple card on the way is a joke gesture from them.


Hassle? What hassle? It takes 2 seconds to process. The chip takes 10 seconds.
Rating: 38 Votes
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srharris22
4 weeks ago

Can’t say I use Apple Pay at stores as it is. Too much hassle. Not enough incentive from Apple. This Apple card on the way is a joke gesture from them.

Too much hassle? I could pay 3 times with AP before you get out your CC and swipe it
Literally it couldn’t be easier, but you searching through wallet or purse is?
Rating: 37 Votes
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btrach144
4 weeks ago
They’ll be closed within 24 months. This just removes the younger crowd even further.
Rating: 32 Votes
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Krizoitz
4 weeks ago
No, chip cards are not just as secure, Apple Pay is more secure because it doesn’t use a fixed card number and is biometrics secured to either a finger print or your face. And cash is completely unsecured , you take it and it’s yours.
Rating: 20 Votes
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nitramluap
4 weeks ago

How can a store remove Apple Pay? It’s the same contactless tech we’ve been using for 15 yrs?

Because, ‘merica.

This sort of nonsense doens’t happen in Australia because we’ve been using contactless (PayPass & PayWave) for almost a decade, and Apple Pay is simply a (better) version of this, which works on all the same terminals - from big stores to farmers’ markets. I haven’t used cash here for over two years since I’ve had the Apple Watch with Apple Pay.

The situation in the USA is a bit of a mess. Last time I was there I used Apple Pay where I could, but many places required me to *sign* for a purchase - my card didn’t even have a signature on it (shows how often I use it), so I had to sign it first! :D
Rating: 19 Votes
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martyjmclean
4 weeks ago
How can a store remove Apple Pay? It’s the same contactless tech we’ve been using for 15 yrs?
Rating: 19 Votes

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