Apple Pay now works with PayAnywhere, a credit card reader serving 300K US locations, and the next version of the reader to be sold exclusively in Apple Stores
Context & Ripple Effects
This deal slots into Apple's push to make Apple Pay usable wherever small merchants actually take cards. Earlier coverage showed the wallet's rails were ready — it already covered 90% of US credit cards by purchase volume — while rivals moved first on hardware: PayPal Here shipped a US reader supporting Apple Pay alongside Android Pay and EMV, and Square put a $49 NFC reader in US Apple stores.
What changes here is distribution and exclusivity: PayAnywhere brings roughly 300K accepting locations, and its next-generation reader will be an Apple Store exclusive — Apple effectively choosing which third-party terminal gets its retail shelf.
First-order effects
- About 300K US merchant locations using PayAnywhere can now accept contactless Apple Pay payments, expanding the wallet's physical acceptance footprint overnight.
- Apple gains an SMB point-of-sale channel without building its own terminal, while PayAnywhere gets sole placement for its next reader across Apple's retail stores.
Second-order effects
- Reader makers Square and PayPal, whose devices also support Apple Pay, now compete for visibility in a channel where Apple decides what's stocked — shelf position becomes a competitive weapon.
- The vending, kiosk, and self-serve push in related coverage points the same direction: acceptance infrastructure, not consumer demand, is the bottleneck each player is racing to own.
Third-order effects
- If Apple continues converting wallet support into exclusive hardware deals, US small-business payment terminals consolidate around whichever readers Apple's retail channel endorses, giving Apple gatekeeper power over contactless acceptance.
- Wallet adoption then tracks terminal availability rather than phone capability — the pattern the later coverage confirms, where activation is high but in-store usage lags until acceptance catches up.
The trend: Mobile wallets are scaling through third-party card-reader hardware, with Apple using its stores to anoint the terminals that carry Apple Pay into small businesses.