Walgreens Customers Using Apple Pay Don’t Have To Swipe Their Rewards Cards Anymore

Walgreens shoppers using Apple Pay at the checkout will have a slightly quicker experience than other loyalty members, as the retailer becomes the first to integrate its rewards program with the mobile payment system.

That means no hunting around for your Walgreens card or entering your phone number: once you’ve added your Balance Rewards card to the Passbook app in iOS 9 — on iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus and Apple Watch — it’s linked to your Apple Pay account.

When you buy something at Walgreens using Apple Pay, rewards points will automatically be added to your rewards balance.

CNet points out that one drawback is that actually making the payment involves two taps of your phone or Apple Watch on the contactless reader, instead of one: one to access your Balance Rewards account, the other to connect to the credit card (or cards) linked to your Apple Pay account.

It’s likely that other retailers will jump on the bandwagon soon enough: Apple said in June that Kohl’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Panera, and Wegmans would link their rewards cards with Apple Pay, while JC Penney and Kohl’s would have their branded credit cards integrated with the system, reports BuzzFeed News. But for now, Walgreens gets to drink a PBR and be like, “I was into integrating my rewards system with Apple Pay before it was cool.”

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist