Discover is currently the only payment network that isn’t compatible with Apple Pay. Visa, Mastercard & American Express are all already working on the mobile payment platform. Today Discover announced an agreement they had made with Apple Pay which will allow Discover cards to be used.
Discover haven’t announced a date of when Apple Pay users will be able to add their cards, but it’s slated for sometime this Fall according to their press release. Diane Offereins, Discover’s president of payment services had this to say:
As the mobile payments landscape matures, Discover remains committed to giving cardmembers secure options for using their cards and mobile devices, Discover’s focus on simplicity and value for our cardmembers aligns well with the way Apple Pay makes purchases easy and convenient.
Financial institutions that issue cards that run on the Discover network will also be able to have their cards added to Apple Pay. Cardholders will continue to be able to earn Discover cash back and be able to utilize discover benefits such as the new “Freeze It” feature that they recently launched.
I’m surprised that it’s taken Discover so long to reach an agreement with Apple Pay, considering that it was launched back in October of 2014. Mobile payments are increasing their market share at a quick pace, so it’s unsurprising that credit card issuers and payment networks want to make sure their cards are compatible with mobile payment platforms like Apple Pay.
Personally I don’t really care about Apple Pay, I don’t think a mobile payment platform that is tied to a brand of cell phones is ultimately going to be best in market. That said I do have a Discover it & Discover it Miles card, so it’s good to see that Discover are paying attention to this market and hopefully when a better solution comes along Discover cards will be compatible out of the box.
