Kohl’s Joins Store-Specific Payment App Party

Image courtesy of Mike Mozart

If you thought that it was confusing to carry around a stack of store charge cards, how about installing a stack of store-specific payment apps on your phone? Now joining Walmart, Cumberland Farms, and other QR code-happy retailers is Kohl’s Pay, a new module inside the store app that many customers already have installed.

14 million people have already at least downloaded the Kohls app, and 25 million have the store’s credit card, and the discount department store figures that there must be some overlap between those groups.

The big difference between Kohl’s Pay and Walmart Pay is that while Walmart lets shoppers use a variety of payment methods in its app, the Kohls app is only for the store’s own credit card.

“You used to have to take out your loyalty card, your charge card, and your coupons,” the company’s chief technology officer told Fortune. “Now you just have to take out the app in one step.”

The idea is to make stacking different kinds of loyalty programs and deals to encourage customers to buy more… even if they left their coupon, their store card, or their whole wallet at home.

Are retailers going to expect us to download separate apps for every store now, though? Isn’t this why you can add your Kohl’s card to Apple Pay?

Kohl’s Pay Is the Latest Combatant In the Payment App Wars [Fortune]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.