Home Depot Adding Apple Pay Option

According to Bloomberg, Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) is in the process of negotiating a deal to bring Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s mobile payment platform Apple Pay to each of Home Depot’s more than 2,000 stores. If the deal is finalized, Home Depot would become the largest retailer yet to accept Apple Pay.

Mobile Initiative

Home Depot spokesman Steve Holmes said this week that bringing Apple Pay to Home Depot stores could be the next step in Home Depot’s push to add multiple new mobile payment options. Home Depot already accepts payment via eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY)'s PayPal platform.

Apple Pay Gaining Traction

Home Depot would become the latest and largest of a group of big-name businesses that accept Apple Pay, including Macy’s, Whole Foods Market, Starbucks, Discover Financial Services and Coca-Cola. Apple is now accepted at over 700,000 total locations.

Holdouts

Despite growing adoption of Apple Pay, several retail giants are still holding out for “Current C,” the mobile payment platform currently being developed by Merchant Customer Exchange. Merchant Customer Exchange is a company created and owned by a consortium of retailers, including Wal-Mart, Target, CVS Health and Best Buy.

In addition to CurrentC, Samsung Electronics recently announced that Apple Pay will soon be getting competition from Samsung Pay, the mobile payment platform expected to launch in the second half of 2015.

Huge Potential In Mobile Payment

The world of mobile payment is rapidly expanding and has staggering potential. According to Forrester Research, $67 billion of mobile payments will be made this year.