Apple Pay coming to Target, Taco Bell, and other major US retailers

Tap for a taco.
 By 
Rachel Kraus
 on 
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See ya later, credit cards.

Apple announced Tuesday that its contactless payment system, Apple Pay, would soon be available to 74 of the "top 100 merchants" in coming weeks.

The latest merchants that will allow customers to tap to pay will include Target, Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, and others. Truly the best America has to offer.

Apple launched its payment platform in 2014, which allows iPhone users to make payments at brick and mortar stores by scanning their phones — no plastic credit cards required. It slowly but surely has added more popular merchants in its four years of existence.

Google only launched a true competitor in 2018, when it somewhat clunkily combined two different platforms — Google Wallet and Android Pay — into Google Pay. Pay Pal users could similarly only start paying for items in store through a tap of the Pay Pal App in 2018. So Apple has a comfortable head start in the contactless payment space — a market that MarketWatch reports is rising by 21 percent every year.

In addition to getting more retailers on board, Apple has been steadily adding more features to its payment platform. In 2017, it launched the person-to-person Venmo competitor Apple Pay Cash. It is also running a limited program with some universities that allow students to add their student ID cards to Apple Wallet, so they can scan to get into buildings or buy meals at dining halls.

Apple Pay's updated roster is growing, but emphasizes mega chains, not necessarily your local coffee shop. So unless you only shop at big box stores, you might want to put the scissors away and save cutting up your credit cards for another day.

Topics iPhone

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Rachel Kraus

Rachel Kraus is a Mashable Tech Reporter specializing in health and wellness. She is an LA native, NYU j-school graduate, and writes cultural commentary across the internetz.

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