Target CEO Brian Cornell – appearing at the second annual Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif – says he’d love to offer his customers the choice to use Apple Pay, but first the retail chain needs to complete a transition to using secure chip-and-PIN credit cards.
Brian Cornell was named CEO of Target in August 2014, just as the retailer suffered the reverberations of a December 2013 credit card hack that was considered one of the largest in U.S. history. About 40 million customers had their payment card information stolen, and the hackers got their hands on personal information from another 70 million. Chip-and-PIN card payment systems are considered more secure.
“Our focus is on getting chip-and-PIN in place in time for the holidays,” Cornell said “Down the line we want to accept all the types of payments that our guests want. But this decision was all about focus”
“I’d love to have Apple Pay today,” he said. “Once we finish, we’ll be open-minded” about supporting other payment systems. Cornell said he has met with Apple CEO Tim Cook and told him the company wants to offer Apple Pay to its customers in-store. Target currently does offer Apple Pay for orders via its iOS app.
