Walgreens Launches Balance Rewards With Android Pay
DEERFIELD, Ill. — In a development that expands the drug-store chain’s portfolio of unified mobile payments solutions, Walgreens Balance Rewards members can now apply their loyalty account at checkout through Android Pay, eliminating the need to separately scan or enter their Balance Rewards card.
“We’re continually looking at ways to enhance the customer experience through innovative and forward-thinking technologies,” said Abhi Dhar, Walgreens’ senior vice president and chief information officer. “We’re proud to have been the first retailer to integrate our loyalty program with the two leading mobile payment providers, and to give our customers another channel for greater access, choice and convenience with our loyalty program.” (Walgreens also offers Balance Rewards integration with Apple Pay.)
Users can add their Balance Rewards card information to the Android Pay app they download from Google Play. Before payment, members hold their Android device near the PIN pad, and the appropriate rewards information is applied. To check out, members then hold their Android device again near the PIN pad for payment.
“We want to make in-store payments simpler for everyone, so we’ve worked with Walgreens to implement Balance Rewards with Android Pay in their stores nationwide, giving customers instant, frictionless access to their loyalty card when they pay,” said Pali Bhat, Google senior director of product management. “Now, Walgreens customers can speed through the entire checkout process in as few as two taps with their Android phones.”
Android Pay is a payment option at the nearly 8,200 Walgreens stores nationwide. Customers can pay for purchases with most standard credit and debit cards, EMV chip credit cards and other mobile wallets.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens, one of the nation’s largest drug-store chains, is part of the Retail Pharmacy USA Division of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. Walgreens operates 8,173 drug stores with a presence in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
