This mobile payments app currently works at only two store chains: Starbucks and Best Buy.
When the Chase Pay QR code based mobile payments were launched, many consumers felt they could use them as an alternative to credit cards. However, shoppers are now discovering that the mobile wallet can be used at only very limited locations so far.
Starbucks and Best Buy are the only merchants that currently accept these mobile transactions.
The Chase Pay QR code based payments app launch came with quite a bit of fanfare from the media but shoppers are finding that usage opportunities are limited. The reason isn’t that stores don’t accept it. The reason is that they don’t accept it yet. The rollout is a gradual one and at the start the only places that will be accepting payments from Chase Pay app users are Starbucks and Best Buy.
That said, next year, it look like Walmart will also be joining the list. This will be an important addition, particularly because Walmart has been exceptionally choosy about mobile payments. It continues to refuse to take Apple Pay at its checkout counters.
It won’t be too long before Chase Pay QR code payments are taken everywhere CurrentC is accepted.
Media reports are suggesting that the checkout counters that currently accept CurrentC – which is not affiliated with Chase Pay – will also be able to accept Chase Pay app based transactions. That said, for the moment, the opportunities for consumers to actually use it are quite limited.
This is not Chase Bank’s first foray into mobile payments. It had originally supported the SoftCard joint venture among the large mobile carriers (originally named Isis, but renamed when the terrorist group started to be referred to by that name by some media outlets). Softcard never made it off the ground. Now, the Chase Pay app is available for download on Google Play for Android device users, and iTunes for iPhone users.
The Chase Pay QR code method of verification was selected over NFC technology. Despite the fact that many of the larger players have opted for near field communication (NFC), this was not the case for the financial institution. Instead, the bank explained that it asked merchants for their opinion on the technology for the mobile wallet. QR codes were chosen since “that’s what merchants told us they prefer,” said Chase.
