Clothing retailer Kohl’s has become the first business to offer support for using store credit cards with Apple Pay. Kohl’s, which is the second largest U.S. department store behind Macy’s, has long been a participating store for accepting the mobile payment service, and now Kohl’s Charge card users can add the store credit card to the Wallet app in iOS 9 on iPhone and iPad and watchOS 2 on Apple Watch.
Store-issued credit card support with Apple Pay was first announced in June as a headlining new feature of Apple Pay in iOS 9 and watchOS 2 with both Kohl’s and JCPenney listed as partners. Prior to today, Apple’s mini-site for Apple Pay only listed store credit cards as a feature that will be available “soon” even after the software update releases.
Noting that support is now live, Apple has updated its growing list of participating banks and store cards to highlight Kohl’s Charge card owners can now use the credit card as a payment method with Apple Pay. Although it’s not yet active, JCPenney Credit Card and BJ’s cards are set to be the next store cards to support the mobile payment service.
Although a small milestone, it does mark the first example of store cards that work with Apple Pay. Loyalty cards like ones from Walgreens and Panera Bread will also soon work with Apple Pay rather than relying on QR code digital passes on iPhones although these don’t yet appear to be active. The update comes just a week after Apple Pay picked up more than 70 new bank partners including HSBC in the United States.
