Snippet: The Apple Pay Coffee Discount ☇

Mike Pomranz for Extra Crispy:

If you happened to be wandering around San Francisco’s Castro District last week, you may have seen some pretty damn good deals… like a $5 Réveille coffee for just $1. But this deal came with a twist: You could only get it if you paid with Apple Pay. Otherwise, full price for you.[…]

But for those interested in raging against the future, it’s important to know that an employee at Café Réveille confirmed by phone that the deal wasn’t the coffee shop’s idea. Instead, he said that he believed it was sponsored by Apple and the payment-processing company Square. Additionally, he said the concept wasn’t just tied to Réveille: “I think they were doing it at a lot of stores in the Castro,” he added.

The promotion has ended, but it’s an interesting move that these have been popping up. Apple has been doing promotions like this in a few isolated areas, and Square seems to be pushing NFC payments, too. My big gripe is that Apple seems to be targeting their backyard—areas in California that probably already have decent use of Apple Pay. I’d love to see some wider-reaching in-person promotions, especially in areas like the Midwest, where there are quite a few places that have the capabilities, but mindshare is still very low.