CVS Pay Joins The M-Pay Bandwagon

CVS announced Thursday (Aug. 11) that it is launching CVS Pay, an end-to-end mobile payment solution the company says will help streamline the payments process for customers both in-store and through an app.

CVS Pay will now be part of the CVS Pharmacy mobile app and will integrate store payments, prescription pickups and CVS’ ExtraCare loyalty program all through one quick scan of a barcode at checkout.

Brian Tilzer, CVS’ senior vice president and chief digital officer, told PYMNTS that CVS Health is dedicated to making health care “convenient, personal and affordable,” and the company views the mobile device as essential to delivering this experience. With the app, customers will have the ability to refill, manage multiple prescriptions and get alerts when ready, as well as pick up and pay using a single barcode. Tilzer says that making the shopping experience for their customers more efficient led them to invest over the last several years in developing “cutting-edge digital services and personalized capabilities” that support this mission.

Tilzer says that the brand is “excited” by the rate of consumer adoption observed so far.

CVS Pay is also available for checkout for both front-of-store and pharmacy transactions. CVS told PYMNTS that CVS Pay will be accepted at all CVS checkout lines. CVS loyalty customers can also link their ExtraCare cards with CVS Pay, meaning a single scan at checkout will process all ExtraCare deals, earn new rewards and handle payment for the transaction.

CVS designed CVS Pay to be easy to use. Customers just need to add their credit or debit cards’ information into the CVS Pharmacy app, as well as HSA and FSA accounts if appropriate. At checkout, customers show the cashier the barcode, which is then scanned. The customer then chooses a payment method from those stored in the app, and the payment is processed. The app also confirms payment and stores all those annoying things like prescriptions, birthdate, signature and PIN numbers. Drive-thru customers are given a pickup number.

CVS Pay also fully embraces the move toward barcodes, saying that this cloud-based mobile payments technology, they feel, provides the best customer shopping experience. That makes CVS Pay available to any consumer with any smartphone. CVS Pay is the only mobile payments app available in the store, but Tilzer told PYMNTS that the company will continue to evaluate other options that “provide the best customer experience.”

CVS Pay is currently only available in select markets, such as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, but is expected to launch nationwide later this year. CVS Pay is available on all the same platforms the CVS app is currently available on and works with all major credit and debit cards, as well as Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account cards.