Costco Now Accepts Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Other Contactless Payments

Retail giant Costco operates hundreds of its massive stores in the United States alone. As of this week, Costco customers who prefer to pay without breaking out their wallets are welcomed to use Apple Pay and other “contactless” payment systems, MacRumors reported.

Costco told MacRumors in a statement that several prominent mobile wallet systems are now supported at all of its U.S. locations. There are more than 500 Costco stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

"We've added additional mobile payment options to make your next visit more convenient," the retail chain said. "Costco members can now use Apple Pay, Google Wallet and Samsung Pay at U.S. Costco locations."

That essentially means U.S. smartphone owners who have put their payment information into either iPhones or Android phones can use those devices to pay for things at Costco, rather than pulling out a card or using cash. For Apple, in particular, Costco is the latest victory in the Cupertino, California-based firm’s quest to win Apple Pay support at as many chains as possible.

Apple secured Pay support at CVS, 7-Eleven, and online auction site eBay this summer. The digital wallet feature is now supported at dozens of retail and food service chains, with one of the most notable exceptions being Walmart. While Apple’s recent jump to $1 trillion in market value was driven largely by its hardware business, its services division (which includes Pay) did not hurt.

Reports from Apple Pay’s launch in 2014 indicated Apple got 0.15 percent of each Apple Pay purchase.

Even still, U.S. adoption of the technology has not exactly been rapid. A survey from earlier this year found that 55 percent of customers preferred credit cards to digital payments because they are perceived as the safer, more traditional option, per CNBC. Though there were safety concerns in the early days of Apple Pay, digital wallets can be fairly secure through encryption and multi-factor authentification.