McDonald's, Panera, Starbucks Among First Adopters Of Apple Pay
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Chains say move will enhance guest experience and simplify mobile payments
Although many were most intrigued by the rollout of Apple’s new devices – the Apple Watch and the iPhone 6 – for restaurant companies and other retailers, the great aha! Moment came with the announcement of the new mobile wallet, called Apple Pay.
According to Apple, Apple Pay, set to launch in the US in October, will use a one-time payment number and security code each time a user pays. It does not store credit card information, and when a consumer uses Apple Pay, the clerk does not see the customer’s name, credit card number, or security code to complete the transaction. Instead, it uses a secure element in the phone to store card information. It eliminates the need for a magstripe, a technology which Cook called "outdated and vulnerable," instead generating a single-use, unique number for each transaction.
“Security and privacy is at the core of Apple Pay. When you’re using Apple Pay in a store, restaurant or other merchant, cashiers will no longer see your name, credit card number or security code, helping to reduce the potential for fraud,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Apple doesn’t collect your purchase history, so we don’t know what you bought, where you bought it or how much you paid for it. And if your iPhone is lost or stolen, you can use Find My iPhone to quickly suspend payments from that device.”
Customers can also transfer their existing payment information already stored in their iTunes account, and the whole payment platform is integrated with Passbook.
Apple Pay supports credit and debit cards from the three major payment networks, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, issued by the most popular banks including Bank of America, Capital One Bank, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo, representing 83 percent of credit card purchase volume in the US.
Apple Pay will work at more than 220,000 merchant locations, including McDonald's and Subway. Other partnerships announced included Macy's, Disney, Walgreens, Whole Foods and Staples.
The technology company worked with McDonald’s and Subway to develop the platform. McDonald’s said it would accept Apple Pay at “virtually all” of its 14,000 U.S. restaurants when it is released in October. Additionally, Starbucks, Panera and OpenTable have announced their apps' integration with ApplePay.
"We're proud to be one of the first retailers to accept Apple Pay using iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch," said Blaine Hurst, chief technology and transformation officer, in a news release. "For us, it's a natural extension of Panera 2.0 which brings together digital ordering, multiple payment options and improved operational processes to deliver an enhanced guest experience."
Atif Rafiq, McDonald’s senior vice president and global chief digital officer, said in a statement: “Apple’s transformative mobile payments service brings a new level of convenience to McDonald’s customers, allowing them to instantly pay and stay, or pay and be on their way.”
Panera Bread said Apple Pay will be “an easy, secure and private way to make purchases” at its 1,818 units via the just-introduced iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or Apple Watch.