COSTCO has banned a popular payment method that is used by retail giants like Dollar Tree and Target.
But savvy social media users have revealed a way around the switch, as shoppers desperately search for a way to beat the system.
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It was revealed on Tuesday that the Costco app is no longer accepting Apple Pay as a form of payment.
The popular method allows you to pay from your phone, negating the need for a physical card when checking out at a store.
Many have come to see the method as easier than paying by card, but it seemed that those days at Costco were over.
The caption inciting post on a Reddit thread said: “Very disappointed to see that Apple Pay is no longer available in the Costco app.
“They’ve added some kind of Visa and MC verification system that you can store your cards on some 3rd party site.
“Apple Pay was just easier and not need to store a card on the site.”
Some shoppers are hesitant to store their payment information on a different site because of the inherent security risks.
Apple Pay also has more and better fraud protection than manual card number entry.
It also puts the emphasis on the shopper to give over their information if they want to choose how they pay in Costco stores.
A WAY AROUND
One of the comments revealed an added issue that comes with Apple Pay being stopped at Costco.
They said: “I just want to be able to put my digital membership card into my apple wallet.”
Without the use of Apple Pay, it will also make accessing your membership card more of a pain.
But several helpful Reddit users came to the help of this confused customer.
One person revealed that you can add your membership card as a separate widget on your iPhone.
While this still takes the Costco card out of your Apple Wallet, it still keeps everything on your phone and removes the need for a third party site to store your information on.
Why doesn’t Walmart offer Apple Pay?
CEO of Walmart Doug McMillon has revealed why stores don’t offer Apple Pay on Stratechery with Ben Thompson.
Though using Apple Pay at the retailer has been an ongoing conversation, McMillon emphasized that “We would like to have the customers open our app in the store all the time.”
The app can be used to help find items in the store, but it can also be used to pay for your purchases.
“That’s one of the things that we would like people to use our app for,” he said.
But another shopper said that this wouldn’t work if employees notice you are not directly using the Costco app.
Other external apps were suggested by various people on the thread.
However, as said by the other Redditor, it might not be a guaranteed system.
It is unclear why Costco suspended the use of Apple Pay in its warehouses.
The US Sun has reached out to the retailer for further clarification on the decision.
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