Hear ye, hear ye, contactless payment lovers: Costco has rolled out Apple Pay to all of its US stores, with plans for support at its gas stations as well.
The rollout — first reported by MacRumors — is huge for the membership-based shopping chain, as it now offers members the option of Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Samsung Pay in its quest to lure millennial shoppers into its warehouses.
(Hopefully millennials are into buying Kirkland in bulk).
It may be an even bigger deal for Apple
Apple Pay has been on fire lately, and the Costco deal is just the latest in a growing list of partners, including 7-Eleven and longtime holdout CVS.
The service is operational in 30 international markets and, in the US, it’s projected to handle half of all contactless payments by an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) by 2020.
Of course, the market ain’t messing either…
Competitors like Samsung Pay, Google pay, and others are expected to reach 450m consumers by 2020.
But, Apple is already seeing dividends: Apple Pay rolled out to users in 2014, and according to TechCrunch, last quarter its division (AKA Apple’s “services” division) reported revenue of $9.6B, up 31% year-over-year.