What’s Next For Apple Pay? Loyalty ― And Soon

Apple has a loyalty program linked to Apple Pay that could launch sooner than expected, according to Payment Week.

Since mid-August, rumors have been circulating about an Apple rewards plan. Initially, the plan was expected to launch in October 2015, possibly to coincide with Apple Pay 2.0. But recent reports from Digiday and Bank Innovation argue that increased market demand has moved up the program’s rollout date, and 2014’s holiday shopping season may offer the first glimpse of the loyalty program.

The program is expected to depend on iBeacons and Apple’s iAd technology along with Apple Pay. The loyalty program may coincide with the launch of a tap-to-buy button embedded in mobile ads from iAds, a feature that’s expected to be ready this holiday season.

One source described a possible scenario to Bank Innovation last August: “One way [Apple has] thought up is, say you’re in a Duane Reade, hypothetically. You get a push notification from Pepsi that they’ve worked out a deal with Duane Reade that you can get a free case of Pepsi. Just pick it up and use Apple Pay at the counter.”

Payment Week wrote that shifting to a new mobile loyalty program just before the upcoming holiday season “may be challenging for retailers.” That understates the point: Most major retailers have already locked down their point-of-sale systems for the holidays well before Halloween. However, Apple Pay appears to operate independently from the retailer’s actual POS system, so that might not prove to be a show-stopper for Apple.

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