Kohl’s Brings Apple Pay, Rewards Together with One Tap

Department store chain Kohl’s has stitched together two of the most frustrating elements of checking out: adding loyalty points at the same time the payment goes through.

Through Apple Pay, Kohl’s now enables shoppers to earn loyalty points at the very moment they make a purchase with the company’s private-label credit account using the mobile wallet, Kohl’s said May 4.

It’s the first time a retailer has combined the process of paying with Apple Pay and earning rewards in a single click, and it could be an important step in winning over consumers, who cite the disconnected processes of loyalty and payments as one of their objections to using mobile payments.

Kohl’s customers that use Apple Pay can pay with their Kohl’s credit card and simultaneously earn points in the retailer’s Yes2You Rewards program at 250 stores, according to a press release. The company plans to roll the feature out nationally to its 1,160 stores later this month, according to the release.

Kohl’s customers can add the company’s rewards program within the Wallet app in iOS 9, using an NFC-enabled iPhone.

The move is part of Kohl’s push to drive a deeper omnichannel strategy, said Ratnakar Lavu, Kohl’s chief technology officer, in the release.

“We are continuing to innovate in mobile to provide an easy, seamless shopping experience whether it’s our mobile payment offerings, the features and functionality of Kohl’s mobile app or the Kohls.com experience on smartphones and tablets,” he said. Kohl’s continues to support paper-based coupons, the company noted.

Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based Kohl’s was an early Apple Pay participant beginning in June 2015, and it’s also been a longtime backer of MCX’s CurrentC mobile payments app, which went live last year in a pilot in Columbus, Ohio, though Kohl’s is not one of the stores participating in the test.

JCPenney currently is testing acceptance of its private-label charge cards at stores, planning a rollout this year.