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Apple Pay Competitor CurrentC Detailed as Convoluted System With Minimal Consumer Benefit

bawbac said:
I don't see any convenience to using NFC other than technical bragging rights. Cash is more secure than all other methods!
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You don't understand how Apple Pay works - its one step:

1. Take iPhone out of pocket and hold up to reader while touching home button (ta dah -- done).

And more secure than swiping credit card or CrappyC.

We aren't comparing anything to cash. So that statement of yours is a non sequitur.
 
antic said:
Its probably already been said, but why don't Apple refuse to allow this app in their App store.
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It's already in the store and is being raked over the coals in reviews by supporters of Apple Pay. There's nothing stopping Apple from pulling the app; but at this point, I don't really think they need or want to. Apple doesn't need a story in the press about how they pulled the app of a competing payment system from their App Store. Especially since CurrentC is not even up and running yet. Plus, I don't suspect that CurrentC is ever going to get off the ground now.
 
Ignore all the privacy and security concerns. The mere fact of scanning a QR code versus a tap/wave, which is intuitive and ubiquitous thanks to NFC credit cards, is a huge barrier for usage.
 
I just called the CurrentC support line and asked if they knew what was going on with Apple Pay and Rite Aid and the whole controversy? I also asked, was it a topic of discussion in the office?

All he kept saying was: "I have no response." "I have no response." like a robot. But they clearly knew something was up.

If anyone else wants to try:

You can reach Customer Care by emailing CustomerCare@CurrentC.com or calling 1-855-772-8773.

http://support.currentc.com/
 
andy9l said:
As I went underground at London Waterloo this morning and saw thousands of people pay via NFC using their debit, credit and Oyster cards, I couldn't help but think what a shame it is that Apple didn't start here, in the UK, where NFC has been the norm for so long - especially in London.

I'm sure there's a valid reason - I trust the decisions of the most valuable company in the world over my own naive view. But it does seem wasted in the States.
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Completely agree. And I live in the USA. Apple is based here, and they do USA first in everything.
 
Terrin said:
Lame. If I was Apple and Google I would not allow these apps in the app store's. If these companies don't want to compete on the merits with Apple pay, Apple can just shut their system down entirely by excluding the apps from the app store.
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Why would they need to remove them from the app stores ? It would look petty, and seriously inconvenience the 14 people who would use this system.
 
These merchant morons can't even secure credit card data.

Target had personal information from 70 million customers and credit cards from 40 million customers stolen last year. It cost them over a billion dollars. These things aren't isolated incidents, it happens almost weekly a new merchant has a data breach.

And these same people want us to trust their same systems to store our checking account numbers?!?! Fat ****ing chance! How ****ing stupid do they think we are?
 
Quahog said:
I disagree. If I get mugged on the street, the money falls out of my pocket, or I get incorrect change (in the merchants favor) and don't notice, I, as the consumer, am out that money.

If I get mugged and a credit card is stolen, I drop it and it is used, or the merchant charges the incorrect amount-- I call my bank, and I am not liable for any of things (as long as I let the bank know within a reasonable amount of time). I get my money back.

....and using a credit card usually offers additional protections as well (extended warranty, theft protection, etc) and has rewards.

Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and similar things add benefits to the bank by lowering their exposure to fraud, and I think it's slightly more convenient to use my phone to pay vs the plastic card enclosed in my wallet. Lowered fraud costs could ultimately lead to lowered exchange fees, interest, or increased rewards.
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You act as if there are not finger prints all over the iPhone and when stolen that a clever thief can not devise a method to copy the correct print to use it to access your iPhone.
 
CurrentC... Cute. :rolleyes:
You can tell they developed the name (easy part) before the experience (the hard part).

That said, my Apple Pay experience has been pretty rough. Sure, I know it is new(ish) tech and that there are several factors (vendors) in the mix, so the room for error is significant. Of the 3 attempts at using Apple Pay, only one (Walgreens) actually worked as expected. The other 2 (McDonald's) failed. One visit, I tried three times to pay with my iPhone 6 and every time the transaction appeared to scan my thumb and yielded the on-screen check mark icon, but no financial transaction ever occurred. Pulled out my wallet and paid with my Visa. The second trip to McDonald's (yes, desperate for Apple Pay success), nothing happened on my iPhone at all. Almost like their terminal wasn't functioning properly. Again, pulled out my wallet and paid with my Visa.

It seems Apple Pay has a ways to go before it has users leaving their wallets at home. Here's hoping us early adopters can help get this smoothed out sooner than later.
 
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bacaramac said:
The biggest issue, many consumers need that charge to show up instantly on their acct. Very few consumers balance their checkbooks and will quickly be in an overdraft scenario. Also with the delayed posting/authorization on charges, who accepts liability. This service seems so antiquated. Real time is the name of the game. This offline posting won't work.
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You hit on the nub of the problem. The banks will ensure that transactions are NOT posted in anything near real time so as to profit from overdraft charges.

At least it appears that the merchant does not get access to account info. From the Techcrunch article:

Rather than sending the customer’s financial data over the air, transactions trigger the transmission of a token placeholder. This is then securely converted by the financial institution to process the ACH payment and charge the user.
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They got that part right, but the rest is a flop. No alternate payment system will succeed if it's more complicated than whipping out a credit card.
 
BuffaloTF said:
You can certainly refuse to give SSN to anyone that requests it, but as the only national ID, it's become the de facto standard for use in credit checks and criminal history (background checks). If you decide not to provide it, you are often met with several other required identification items. It's really just how much you want to give up, quantitatively.
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You will find it superhumanly impossible to get a Drivers License in a number of states without providing your SSN. Iowa comes to mind, among others.
 
TXCherokee said:
They data mine your every purchase anyway by linking your CC# to your purchases, unless you use cash.

My only point was that their system of bypassing the fees, is more beneficial to them, and me, then the CurrentC system.
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Target is a retailer I don't like patronizing because of their Guest ID system. They scan your driver's license once for alcohol or tobacco (proof of age), they tie that to the catalogs emailed to your house, your target.com email with the same address as your drivers license, etc... Then you get mailed or emailed a coupon once (tied to your email) and you use a credit card, poof, they've now tied that card to your guest ID.

The draw of the Target debit card is it saves them swipe fees while making a convenient way to track the purchases of those who are not inclined or not able to get credit cards or debit cards from major banks. You are correct in stating that they do track other credit/debit cards, even those not issued by target. Additionally, liability on purchases made via the Target Debit card fall under the EFTA instead of the FCRA (different laws in the US, with the EFTA being far weaker from a consumer protection standpoint).

leontief said:
You will find it superhumanly impossible to get a Drivers License in a number of states without providing your SSN. Iowa comes to mind, among others.
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Many won't. The only way to get a driver's license in New York is a letter from the Social Security Administration stating you are absolutely ineligible to get an SSN, or your SSN.

lazyrighteye said:
The second trip to McDonald's (yes, desperate for Apple Pay success), nothing happened on my iPhone at all. Almost like their terminal wasn't functioning properly. Again, pool out my wallet and paid with my Visa.

It seems Apple Pay has a ways to go before it has users leaving their wallets at home. Here's hoping us early adopters can help get this smoothed out sooner than later.
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This is a common issue, Google Wallet even when at a store with NFC readers often didn't work because they didn't maintain them. Increased usage leads to increased reliability in theory (when it breaks, more people complain, squeaky wheel, etc. and it's noticed that it's broken more quickly).
 
So basically they want to pass the transaction fees onto the customer through discounts? For them, it makes sense, they can give discounts with money they would lose to credit cards, this saves them money for paying both credit cards and discounts on top of those fees.

All they found is a loop hole through ach and are trying to take advantage of it. The loser here is the customer, which is the reason it won't work.
 
bawbac said:
You act as if there are not finger prints all over the iPhone and when stolen that a clever thief can not devise a method to copy the correct print to use it to access your iPhone.
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and in the days to weeks a highly skilled person would need to replicate a usable print, you would have disabled the cards from use in apple pay.
 
caesarp said:
You don't understand how Apple Pay works - its one step:

1. Take iPhone out of pocket and hold up to reader while touching home button (ta dah -- done).

And more secure than swiping credit card or CrappyC.

We aren't comparing anything to cash. So that statement of yours is a non sequitur.
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Yes, one loooooooooooooooong step.
I'd say the typical Apple Pay transaction will take longer than CC payments.

1. Take iPhone out of purse or "satchel" (no one carries them in their pockets)
2. Hold iPhone up to reader.
*Wait several seconds for reader and iPhone to sync.

3. iPhone prompts for payment confirmation with finger print scan on iPhone.

4. Finger print scanned.
*Wait several seconds for payment authentication.

5. Payment approved.
 
bawbac said:
You act as if there are not finger prints all over the iPhone and when stolen that a clever thief can not devise a method to copy the correct print to use it to access your iPhone.
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You act as if I could not get to a internet connection literally anywhere on the face of the earth and turn my phone into a brick before said thief could actually use my own lifted fingerprint to access the phone (yeah, I saw that episode of MythBusters).

And aside from that, I could just as quickly call my bank to disable that token.

And aside from both of those, I am still not liable for fraud.
 
leontief said:
You will find it superhumanly impossible to get a Drivers License in a number of states without providing your SSN. Iowa comes to mind, among others.
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It's also incredibly difficult to buy car insurance without it... ;)
 
With all the current information that is coming out now on these pay systems, I'm beginning to wonder about PayPal and how it works.

I don't keep any money in a PayPal account per se, but when I do use PayPal to purchase something, the amount is just taken out of my checking account.

This has my privacy radar going up now.
 
geoffm33 said:
and in the days to weeks a highly skilled person would need to replicate a usable print, you would have disabled the cards from use in apple pay.
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There's no days or weeks.
We've done tests/games to prove to people/friends/co-workers how easy it is to extract a print off a cell phone. People like to use dirty fingers and those leave a lot more residue/prints behind.
Also, your fingers have natural oils that also help leave a nice print on the iPhone, especially on hard shell type cases.
 
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