safety for staff and a reduced need for the involvement of law enforcement organizations. In a 2020 statement to Reuters in response to the reporting, Rite Aid said that it had ceased using the facial recognition software and switched off the cameras. According to director Read Hayes of the National Retail Federation Loss Prevention Research Council, which in 2018 called facial recognition technology "a promising new tool" worth evaluating, Rite Aid's surveillance program was either the largest or one of the largest programs in retail. The Home Depot, Menards, Walmart, and 7-Eleven are among other US retailers also engaged in pilot programs or deployments of facial recognition technology. Of the stores examined by Reuters, those in communities where people of color made up the largest racial or ethnic group were three times as likely to have the technology installed, raising concerns related to the substantial history of racial segregation and racial profiling in the United States. Rite Aid said that the selection of locations was "data-driven", based on the theft histories of individual stores, local and national crime data, and site infrastructure. Customer loyalty and rewards programs The wellness+ card is Rite Aid's free shopping rewards card that started nationwide on April 18, 2010. It became a part of the newly launched American Express-backed Plenti rewards program in May 2015. Rite Aid introduced wellness+ BonusCash on January 1, 2018. Customers can no longer earn Plenti points; instead, they earn BonusCash that can only be redeemed at Rite Aid. However, Rite Aid would remain a part of the Plenti rewards program, which would end on July 10, 2018. After Plenti was discontinued Rite Aid re-introduced the wellness+ program. Merger with Eckerd and Brooks On August 23, 2006, the Wall Street Journal announced that Rite Aid would be buying the Eckerd Pharmacy and Brooks Pharmacy chains (Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy) from the Quebec-based Jean Coutu Group for US$3.4 billion, and merging the two chains into one dominant pharmacy system. The company's shareholders overwhelmingly approved the merger on January 18, 2007. After some store closures and the conversion of the two chains was completed, Rite Aid became the dominant drug store retailer in the Eastern U.S., and the third largest drug retailer nationwide (behind the faster-growing Walgreens and CVS chains). Similar to what CVS experienced in the Chicago metropolitan area after its purchase of Albertsons drug store chains, the deal gave Rite Aid stores