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Apple CEO Tim Cook has warned that retailers could upset customers if they offer limited choices at the checkout.
The statement comes after two US drugstores, CVS and Rite Aid, decide to block Apple’s mobile payments service.
The two retailers have opted out of Apple Pay in favour of a rival system that around 50 chains, including Wal-Mart and Best Buy, are developing for in-house use.
After hearing the news at the Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference, Cook said: "We’ve got a lot more merchants to sign up, we’ve got a lot of banks to sign up and we’ve got the rest of the world.”
Cook argued that Apple Pay offers better security than competing services and said that retailers risked alienating customers by limiting their payment choices.
"Merchants have different objectives sometimes. But in the long arc of time, you only are relevant as a retailer or merchant if your customers love you,” said Cook.
A new report from Juniper Research has found that there will be some 516 million mobile users of NFC contactless payment services by the end of 2019, saying that Apple Pay would stimulate the wider marketplace.
Apple Pay launched in the US on October 20th with over 220,000 stores and apps on board, including MacDonald’s, Nike, Foot Locker, Toys R Us, and Subway.
