CVS and Rite-Aid did it not shut off their NFC-based payment systems just to stifle the competition of Apple Pay, but  because they’re contractually obligated not to offer Apple Pay in their stores.

The whole Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) group, including these two drug stores and big-box retailers Walmart and Best Buy, signed a contract years ago that binds them to Current C. That contract, signed way before anyone knew if Apple Pay was ever going to materialize, prevents them from supporting rival technologies, as doing so will earn them outrageous fines.

Current C. won’t be ready until 2015, and by then customers might already be too attached to Apple Pay to consider anything else and demand its use in MCX members’ outlets. Of course, it’s always possible for Apple Pay not to catch on in the end, but — bad news for this bunch of companies — it’s doing really well thus far.