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

Oh no ma'am.
I pass.

Who would use this...?
Besides having to input you SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER (crazy), the process just seems like a SUPER HASSLE.
 
drewyboy said:
Exactly. At least from the information I've seen there is ZERO benefit for the consumer. It only benefits the retailer. Also collecting health data WTF?
Click to expand...

For advertising maybe?

Not that I understand the benefit.
 
So basically ease of use and security were not even mentioned during development. There is no way this will catch on. I don't mind Google Wallet being competition for Apple Pay, but CurrentC is worthless.
 
I can't believe retailers would rather support this than NFC. Amazon is about to make a lot of money once this crap rolls out. Especially with Amazon same day delivery.
 
They've created a more cumbersome and sensitive information demanding way to do the same thing with no benefit to the consumer.

Someone give them an award! I can just picture the guys at Cupertino all standing around a retina iMac during a break, reading this and bursting into laughter.
 
Thanks Macrumors for removing the thumbs down button. I would love to thumbs down this CurrentC article. I'm beginning to see that paying cash is the best policy.
 
It may be convoluted, insecure, and of little benefit to consumers...

...but it's not Apple. Which makes it an instant win for the people that hate the idea of others wanting to use Apple Pay.
 
This is all about the big merchants hoping to protect their customer loyalty programs and bypassing the credit card companies. Not much point in telling the story any other way.
 
dotme said:
This is DOA. How long before the "member stores" realize that I wonder?
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If I am reading this correctly they are using a direct charge to your bank account to bypass the credit card fees. So, you cannot use a credit card with this process and they have direct access to debit your bank account.
 
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.
 
HA! And to think that at first I was worried because...well...you know...ApplePay is DOOMED!:rolleyes:
 
I don't know what America's deal is, but near enough the rest of the world has been using NFC payments for some time now. Why are companies over there determined to make sure you guys are still using magnetic strips?
 
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.
 
They would have easier time pushing their system by simply ignoring iPhone users (since NFC is locked to Apple Pay) and just support Android with NFC.
 
dotme said:
This is DOA. How long before the "member stores" realize that I wonder?
Click to expand...

Many of them probably realize it already...and are trying to figure out how to get out from under a 3-year contract. (Though it sounds like some may be in the grace period and others may be about to expire.)

Other than hoping to use it as leverage to negotiate lower cc fees (which loses more leverage as details of their clunky convuluted plan come out) there is not a lot to salvage out of this dumpster fire.
 
roadbloc said:
I don't know what America's deal is, but near enough the rest of the world has been using NFC payments for some time now. Why are companies over there determined to make sure you guys are still using magnetic strips?
Click to expand...


Money.
 
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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