Merchants that will accept Apple Pay

Merchants that will accept Apple Pay

Apple Pay has been described as the “sleeper hit” of this week’s special event in Cupertino, California. That may turn out to be true, but not anytime soon.

The new mobile payments system will work at 220,000 stores in the United States when it launches in October. That may sound like a lot, but it’s really not.

This represents just 2.4 percent of the roughly 7 million to 9 million merchants in the U.S. that accept credit cards. The reason is that 97.6 percent of businesses do not have point-of-sale systems that work with near field communication, or NFC, according to Time.

In order for these businesses to utilize Apple Pay, they’ll have to update their checkout process. Otherwise, Apple’s quest to become a leader in mobile payments could be stymied. That, plus the fact that most remain hesitant about using their mobile device to make credit and debit card purchases.

So which businesses are planning on using Apple Pay? Here’s the list, as of Sept. 12:

• Apple
• Babies R Us
• Bloomingdale’s, 
• Disney Store
• Walt Disney World Resort
• Duane Reade
• Macy’s
• McDonald’s
• Nike
• Panera Bread
• Petco
• Sephora
• Staples
• Subway
• Toys R Us
• Unleashed
• Walgreens
• Whole Foods Market

  You will be able to use Apple Pay to make purchases through the follow apps:

• Disney Store
• Groupon
• Instacart
• MLB.com
• OpenTable
• Panera Bread
• Sephora
• Starbucks
• Target
• Tickets.com
• Uber

  Apple Pay supports credit and debit cards from the three major payment networks, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, issued by Bank of America, Capital One Bank, Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo. Discover is expected to join the lineup too.

Banks coming soon include: Barclaycard, Navy Federal Credit Union, PNC, USAA, and US Bank.

Apple Pay works on the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple Watch.