The days of Apple Pay not being accepted at Target could be coming to an end. According to a number of users on Twitter, the Target store in San Francisco is currently accepting Apple Pay purchases.
While this has yet to be rolled out to Target’s other 1,821 stores, this suggests the company may be changing its stance on Apple’s mobile payment service.
Target: An Apple Pay holdout
Target has been a notable holdout when it comes to accepting Apple Pay. In early 2017, Target issued a statement claiming, “We have no plans or work underway currently to make Apple Pay available in our stores.” Despite this, it was one of the first major retailers to embrace Apple Pay in its iOS app.
Target went on to launch its own in-store mobile payments platform, called Target Wallet, although this did not offer exactly the same ease of use as Apple Pay.
It’s not clear why the company may have changed its position. There’s a chance that the store in question activated NFC payments by mistake, although it’s equally (if not more?) possible that this is a small-scale trial, which could later roll out to other venues. Apple Pay’s popularity continued to grow in the time since Target slammed the door on it. (Even if Apple Pay has not experienced quite as rapid growth as Tim Cook expected.)
This week, Apple Pay arrived in Belgium and Kazakstan,its 30th and 31st markets.
Are you a regular Apple Pay user? Let us know your thoughts on Apple’s mobile payments service in the comments below.
Source: 9to5Mac
