If you’ve got Apple Pay or Google Wallet on your smartphone and you frequently shop at Rite Aid, it’s time to celebrate. The company announced that they began accepting mobile payments this month.
In addition to Apple Pay and Google Wallet, Rite Aid also accepts tap and pay credit and debit cards, and they will accept Android Pay, coming soon from Google.
This will streamline the payment process that the drugstore checkout line and bring Rite Aid into the 21st century when it comes to payment processing, allowing customers to utilize the latest technology when paying for a prescription, a bottle of shampoo, or a pack of gum and a mega pack of toilet paper.
You can’t beat the convenience of being able to pay with a phone and leave your wallet at home. Whether you forgot to bring your credit card, or you just don’t want to bother with lugging a bag and wallet with you, your credit card information will be stored securely in your phone, and Apple Pay, Google Wallet, or soon Android Pay, will make your payment for you, using the card you select.
Mobile payments becoming more and more common
With the advent of the NFC-enabled iPhone 6 and Apple Pay, mobile payments got a huge boost over the last year. More people than ever are discovering the convenience of paying via smartphone, and Apple Pay has exploded in popularity. Retailers have begun accepting Apple Pay all over the country, and people with an iPhone 6 are becoming accustomed to showing their phones at the register when they want to pay for their purchases.
In spite of some people’s concerns about the safely of mobile payments, they are only becoming more popular. Studies show that the older generation is worried about whether mobile payments are secure, while younger folks are ready to jump on board with the new technology.
Ken Martindale, CEO of Rite Aid stores, said the company was pleased to offer their customers “an easy and convenient checkout process, which we know is important to them.” Martindale said mobile technology was “just one piece of Rite Aid’s evolving digital strategy” and that the company would “continue to explore, test and implement innovative technologies that will help us to better serve our valued customers.”
Rite Aid has close to 4,600 stores in 31 states across America, and the District of Columbia. Their revenue is approximately $26.5 billion per year.