Sandwich chain Subway will roll out NFC-based mobile payments on Oct. 1 at 26,000 U.S. locations, The Paypers reported — and they won’t use Apple’s new Apple Pay.
The sandwich giant will be expanding a pilot it started in 2013 with Softcard, the mobile payments consortium of Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile that was formerly known as Isis. Subway is already using the system in Salt Lake City stores, and the nationwide expansion will make it one of the largest mobile-payments deployments in the U.S., the chain said.
Customers who have downloaded the Softcard app and registered their payment cards will be able to use their mobile phones to pay for meals at Subway, as well as to get points using Subway’s loyalty program in some markets.
The chain and Softcard will also work together to deliver offers to Subway customers using the Softcard app’s SmartTap protocol, which adds commerce data to NFC transactions at contactless-equipped point-of-sale devices.
Subway customers that use the tap-and-pay system with the American Express Serve card will also receive $1 back on every purchase larger than $1 through year-end.