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Local businesses ponder Apple Pay

Durango retailers haven’t adopted new payment method

Technology is all around. With the evolution of our electronics comes the evolution of our lives and perhaps even a wallet-less future.

Apple Inc. launched a new form of payment earlier this month, Apple Pay, that would allow customers who use its Smartphones to pay for merchandise at participating retailers.

There is a possibility the system might be used soon in Durango, primarily for the few national retailers sprinkled around town. For now, Apple has only signed on a few chain retailers nationwide such as McDonald’s, Macy’s and Whole Foods Market, according to the Washington Post.

In the future, however, locally-owned businesses may utilize the technology.

Executive Director of the Durango Business Improvement District Tim Walsworth emailed 31 local downtown businesses asking what their plans are regarding the use of Apple Pay.

Seven businesses responded in saying they will not be using the software but plan to monitor its use, and based on those results, possibly adopt the form of payment, he said.

Baird Kleinsmith, vice president of business development at Mercury Payment Systems, a local credit card processing company, said he would be speaking with internal team members on Mercury’s involvement with Apple Pay.

Attempts to reach him for further comment were unsuccessful as of Tuesday afternoon.

Though this town is not always the fastest to jump on the technology bandwagon, Durango is no stranger to new advances. Last November the Steaming Bean Coffee Co. was the first of Durango’s downtown businesses to begin accepting PayPal as a form of payment.

vguthrie@durangoherald.com



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