tmiw

I just added my BofA Cash Rewards card to Android Pay and it seems to be CDCVM and signature only (tag 9F6C is 0180). My BofA debit card forces PIN (8100) though. This is after changing the cardpeek scripts so that it tells Android Pay that both online PIN and CDCVM are supported and that a CVM is required.

storewanderer

Kroger will actually be turning Contactless OFF at the few stores where they enabled it as part of the upcoming EMV updates. I do not know what Kroger is thinking or why they are so against Contactless.

As far as Safeway goes, remember, Safeway used to have stores in Canada and already went through the EMV migration there. And they did it with their old IBM system. The Safeway Canada IBM supported tap/swipe/insert card with the typical Canada pinpads (the tiny calculator like ones with non color screen but get the job done). Safeway Canada has since been sold to a third party unrelated to the US Safeway Stores and that third party also removed the IBM system from the Canada Safeways and replaced it with a very clumsy NCR system (the cashier has to ask credit or debit and ask what card type are you using Visa, MC, AmEx, etc.).

tmiw

I'm betting either:

a) They do a fair amount of data mining without customers' consent (even though their stores have opt-in loyalty programs like Safeway and others do) and don't want to risk losing any of that, or
b) They're coming out with their own mobile pay type app soon. I don't think they're MCX members, so they might have partnered with someone else or are just rolling their own.

Another option is they "didn't have time" to implement NFC this time around and will end up enabling it some time next year, a la Target. Possibly not without a lot of resistance and customer complaints.

scibot

Kroger has told me "We are evaluating contactless payment options in the future." Doesn't sound like they are totally against it, sounds more like a wait and see approach to it, which is stupid, they should just say that they will be open to supporting it like Target has hinted.

AllieKat

Target has said the exact same thing??? Both are rather opposed to it, or it'd be on already.

scibot

Target has said that they are working on bring Apple Pay in stores, an employee has heard Q2 2016 for a timeline. EMV debit / chip & pin is more a priority for them, but still it will be enabled, it will just take a awhile. "Apple Pay is only available through the Target iPhone app. We are working on ways to bring this technology to the stores." Kroger isn't even talking about enabling any time soon, so it won't be enabled with EMV, who really knows when.

NYCFlyer10001

So it looks like Walgreens has turned on EMV contactless, at least for Discover cards.

It was a really clunky transaction, though. I couldn't tap until all the items had been scanned and the cashier hit something on the register. Then, it made me tap twice -- but with about 10 seconds between the prompts. So, tap, processing... blank screen... "Please tap payment card or device again", and then the receipt spat out almost immediately after I dug my phone out again.

RedLight2015

Any idea when the EMV rollout will happen for Kroger? I go there and to this day it's still Please Slide Card at Anytime and it's almost October.

RedLight2015

Safeway has just been losing a battle and now they're part of Albertsons. I feel the IBM system will also make way for NCR here in the US since Albertsons uses NCR.

tmiw

Albertson's seems to support NFC fine even with NCR though? And it wasn't clunky (except for the lack of any indication on the screen that it's supported), at least at the one that eventually became a Haggen.

What's said in public actually differs a lot from what's in private. It could still be for the reasons I said before, just that some of them would cause a huge storm of controversy if said out loud.

diburning

Albertsons uses NCR registers. The registers handle contactless just fine (Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Samsung Pay) They also use NCR Retalix Integrated Payments as a payment processor. As I've mentioned further up the thread, EMV will not be implemented until 1Q 2016 for any retailer that uses this company as a payment processor. The pin pads should all be replaced with MX915s eventually (there are still a ton of MX850s and earlier pin pads out there).

The screen will only indicate to swipe the card, but if a contactless mobile payment is presented, it will treat it like a swiped card. Receipt will show the card type, and the last 4 digits of the token as if it were the last 4 digits on a swiped card.

scibot

So today I found a new merchant that accepts ApplePay/Android Pay its called Party City and they use MX925's with Cayan Genius, you select Apple Pay from the options, credit/debit are there too, but I don't think NFC works with the two other options. It also said 'Swipe. Tap. Scan.' on the screen while being ringed up so they may be able to scan something as well? Dollar Tree still works with the Android Pay virtual card but it sure took a long time to process the transaction, I thought I had frozen up the system, then it printed a receipt.

storewanderer

The NCR systems used in Albertsons/Jewel/Shaws/Acme are actually Supervalu systems (the previous owner of Albertsons) being used under a service agreement which is winding down right now (this is also why Haggen uses that NCR system in its former Albertsons most of which will be closed within 60 days, Haggen signed an IT agreement with Supervalu). They will all be transitioning to the Safeway IBM system. Along with the Albertsons that used IBM all along (the stores that were not owned by Supervalu, which were in AZ/CO/NM/TX/FL) which will also be moving off of that very old IBM platform onto the Safeway platform.

The new Safeway IBM platform is similar to the one used by Whole Foods and it doesn't seem to have any problem with Contactless. Kroger's IBM system also had no problem with Contactless so I have no idea why they are not going to support it. Especially with how concerned Kroger is about checkout line speed, I really don't get it.

tmiw

That sounds like bad news for NFC support there since I have a feeling it's not going to be enabled at Safeway stores when they finally flip EMV on. It's mostly based on the fact that the MX915's screen at my local Vons just says "Swipe or Insert Card" but still.

scibot

Interesting insight, could that be why most Albertsons in those states don't support NFC at all? Also sounds like it may not be awhile until they support EMV or NFC at Safeway. @tmiw I've been to Save A Lot (Supervalu owned) and it says Please Slide Card but the four dots appear to unlike Albertsons that support NFC now.