Wells Fargo offers credit cardholders $20 to try Apple Pay

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Spencer A Brown

Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf is offering his credit card customers $20 to try Apple Pay.

Mark Calvey

Senior Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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Wells Fargo flexed its powerful marketing muscle this week when it offered 20 bucks for its credit cardholders to try Apple Pay.

Wells Fargo's (NYSE: WFC) move has generated a lot of buzz, with Cult of Mac calling it the "biggest gesture" yet by banks and credit card companies to push Apple Pay. Trust me: You ain't seen nothin' yet.

Just wait till retailers pinning their hopes on Apple Pay rival Merchant Customer Exchange start asking shoppers for their Social Security numbers and birth dates to participate in the MCX new service. My take: fat chance. That's based on reader feedback I've received in the past when a retailer has sought a customer's Social Security number. Wells Fargo is the third largest banking operation in terms of DFW deposits,

Security breaches at Target, (NYSE: TGT) Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and numerous other retailers are likely to prompt more shoppers to ask whether they want to rely on merchants for banking services.

Apple Pay relies on a lot of nifty technology to keep sensitive customer data out of the hands of retailers and hackers.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal this week that more than 1 million cards were registered within the first three days of Apple Pay's debut.

The battle of the titans — Apple Pay vs. U.S. retailers seeking to create their own mobile payment service — is likely to be quite a showdown.

Sit back and grab the popcorn.

Mark covers banking and finance.