Rite Aid, a drugstore chain in the United States, announced Tuesday it will begin accepting both Apple Pay and Google Wallet starting this coming Saturday, August 15. The company famously disabled support for Apple’s mobile payment service nationwide, even though it was supported at Apple Pay launch.
The move put Rite Aid at odds with regulators and lawyers who launched an investigation under suspicion that the pharmacy chain violated federal antitrust laws by colluding with other MCX members to boycott rival payment systems such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
All of Rite Aid’s nearly 4,600 stores nationwide will begin accepting NFC-enabled mobile payment solutions, including Apple Pay and Google Wallet, starting Saturday, August 15. The company will also accept Google’s forthcoming Android Pay and all Rite Aid stores will also accept tap and pay credit and debit cards.
Just yesterday, American Express rolled out corporate credit card support with Apple Pay and last week the Pei Wei restaurant chain started accepting Apple Pay at nearly 200 U.S. locations.
After launching in the United States last September, Apple Pay expanded into the United Kingdom this summer with support from major banks and more than 250,000 merchant locations. The Apple-branded mobile payment solution is rumored to hit Canada, China, Germany and other markets later this year.
Source: Rite Aid