Walgreen rewards to fully integrate with Apple Pay

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. will become the first retailer to launch seamless loyalty-program integration with Apple Pay , the retailer said Thursday. Members of Walgreens' Balance Rewards program, which has more than 85 million active members, will be able to use Apple Pay to redeem loyalty points, just as they would if they were using their regular Walgreen rewards card, by adding their loyalty account to their Apple Wallet. The loyalty information on the card will be automatically sent through the Walgreen system when the user checks out with Apple Pay at the register, applying all discounts and tacking on any earned points. Earlier this year, Apple announced plans to make its mobile payment platform compatible with retail store-branded payment and loyalty cards, which included compatibility with cards from Walgreens and Dunkin Donuts. Shares of Walgreens were up 0.3% in premarket trade to around $87.75, while those of Apple ticked up 0.3% to $121.84.

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