One million credit cards in 72 hours. That’s how many cards Apple Inc. Chief Executive, Tim Cook, says were activated during the first 3 days following the launch of Apple Pay. Speaking at the WSJD Live event, hosted by The Wall Street Journal, Cook said that Apple is already the leader in "contactless" payments, and has users that number "more than the total of all the other guys."
But not everyone is celebrating the new payment offering. Rite Aid and CVS have deactivated the NFC devices at their stores in support of a different mobile payment service set to roll-out next year. Additonally, Panera and Starbucks are critical of the system, noting that in order for them to fully embrace any mobile payment program it would have to integrate their loyalty programs within the same easy swipe.
And, of course, there were the usual glitches that so often occur with any new technology launch. For Apple Pay, these included Bank of America’s double-charge debacle and a seemingly endless array of online reviews noting clerks who seemed to have no idea what Apple Pay even was.
Still, one topic notably quiet during all the hype surrounding Apple Pay's first week was that of security. Despite continual headlines of mass data breaches and jabs from the competition comparing your money's safety with Apple to that of your selfies, Apple has clearly done an incredible job eliciting consumer buy-in to their new digital wallet. So apparently, the answer to our previous question is YES. The added layer of security in the form of a fingerprint scan is indeed enough to calm the public's apprehension when it comes to digital wallets. At least for one million plus; A number that continues to increase daily.
