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

[Jarman74]

it is unclear why they waited until after the service went live and customers were using it before disabling their systems.

Most likely they got a "friendly" reminder of the garbage agreement they signed earlier.

CurrentC will go down in history as the best Apple Pay ad campaign ever. I guess Tim Cook will be adding this one to the usual Windows and Android adoption pie charts when the next keynote comes around

 

[Boatboy24]

So...in short:


CurrentC:
1. Unlock phone
2. Find CurrentC app
3. Launch CurrentC app
4. Hope you have adequate signal in concrete walls of the store
5. Hold phone up to scanner

You forgot:

6. Provde SSN and Drivers License number to a complete stranger

 

[bennibeef]

Actually they probably can't. A move like this would spawn a lot of AntiTrust issues, something Apple probably doesn't want since they're giving Microsoft a run for their money with proprietary technologies. And default apps. And everything else Microsoft were sued for in the 90s because of AntiTrust.

Well yeah that is kinda anti-trust but they can probably do it, I did not read the full Appstore Terms of Service but there sure is some part where they can kick an app out if they want to. At least the part with if the service is similar to an apple product paragraph.

 

[zaphon]

Wrong. Look again. I combined steps 2 and 3 into one step because finding the app and launching it is not really two steps.

Apple Pay works without a cell signal? Uh, no.

Apple Pay works without you even holding the phone? Uh, no.

These systems are different, and CurrentC is obviously more complex to use, but exaggeration to make that point isn't required.

I believe you're wrong as well. Everything I have read says that Apple Pay will work without a data signal (I might just go and test this). However, trying to compare me tapping my phone to a NFC reader to scanning a QR code and then holding my phone up to have another QR code scanned by the clerk as comparable is laughable at best. So who's really trying to exaggerate here?

 

[genovelle]

I'll still shop at these places but I'll use my credit card or cash. Just how I use it anywhere else that doesn't have NFC. We aren't being forced to use this new system.

You are if you don't want to carry your wallet or maybe never use cash like I don't. I have had to use cash at two places in the last 4 years and had to make a trip to the bank atm to get some. They loose my business because they choose to make my life more difficult when Apple Pay worked in their stores to make it easier. Apple gets my money because they work to simplify my life. Companies that do the opposite don't get rewarded.

 

[jayducharme]

MCX reportedly will push retailer discounts and loyalty purchases to entice consumers to adopt this upcoming mobile payments system

When a company knows their system sucks, the best course of action is the old reliable technique of bribery.

 

[HEK]

Wow, $500K up-front fee and a three-year lockdown? That's forever in technology terms (like a two-year contract on a smartphone), and anything can change in a heartbeat (read: Apple Pay). If I was a retailer, I would've dealt with the rolling transaction fees. Looks like a bunch of retailers each wasted half a mil, and CurrentC will be dead on arrival, but not without giving their execs a bunch of golden parachutes on the way down. Typical corporate mentality.

It's a Walmart thing. See the head of MCX the company fronting CurrentC is a Walmart executive. Whole thing set up by Walmart because top honcho hate paying Visa and MC the 2-3%. No need to worry about the MCX execs they will land ok back at Wallyland.

 

[zaphon]

Well yeah that is kinda anti-trust but they can probably do it, I did not read the full Appstore Terms of Service but there sure is some part where they can kick an app out if they want to. At least the part with if the service is similar to an apple product paragraph.

Apple can remove an app if it is confusingly similar to an existing Apple Product (which I believe CurrentC is to Apple Pay).

 

[brendu]

Hey, MCX, answer this for me:

Best Buy needs my health and medical information why, exactly?

So they can email you offers for gadgets that allign with your lifestyle of course

 

[dotme]

Apple Pay works without a cell signal? Uh, no.

Uh, yes. It does. No internet communication is needed. Just like an NFC chip in a plastic card.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I believe you're wrong as well. Everything I have read says that Apple Pay will work without a data signal (I might just go and test this). However, trying to compare me tapping my phone to a NFC reader to scanning a QR code and then holding my phone up to have another QR code scanned by the clerk as comparable is laughable at best. So who's really trying to exaggerate here?

Really? So how does it know that your credit card isn't over limit? Apple Pay is trick, but it isn't magic.

Now go back and read what I actually wrote. I'll respond to what I actually said, not something you totally made up, thank you.

 

[Noble Actual]

Its not far fetched to see MCX supporters get hacked or compromised in the near future.

Half of their supporting stores have already gotten hacked.

Not to mention NSA probably found CurrentC way too easy to get into.

 

[yg17]

How do you do that with any EFT setup? Or maybe you just don't use any.

I've never had to provide DL+SSN for EFT setup. Every time I've set EFT up somewhere like Paypal, they make a couple test deposits and you have to enter the amount.

Really? So how does it know that your credit card isn't over limit? Apple Pay is trick, but it isn't magic.

The same way it knows your card isn't over the limit when you swipe it. The authorization happens on the merchant side of things. ApplePay shouldn't require a data connection.

 

[Dr. Echsel]

This is the competition?

 

[dotme]

Really? So how does it know that your credit card isn't over limit? Apple Pay is trick, but it isn't magic.

Wow - How does a Point Of Sale system know your plastic card is over the limit? Again, no phone connectivity is needed. The tokenized card is already on the phone (not in the cloud) and the card-reader at the retail establishment does the rest.

 

[Boatboy24]

Time for Apple and Google to collaborate and release some "I'm NFC. And I'm CurrentC" commercials.

 

[zaphon]

Really? So how does it know that your credit card isn't over limit? Apple Pay is trick, but it isn't magic.

Now go back and read what I actually wrote. I'll respond to what I actually said, not something you totally made up, thank you.

Your phone doesn't do the verification of the credit card?

Why are you such a huge MCX supporter? Do you maybe work for them?

 

[IJ Reilly]

Uh, yes. It does. No internet communication is needed. Just like an NFC chip in a plastic card.

So say it does, some say it doesn't.

 

[BuffaloTF]

Really? So how does it know that your credit card isn't over limit? Apple Pay is trick, but it isn't magic.

Now go back and read what I actually wrote. I'll respond to what I actually said, not something you totally made up, thank you.

The same way it knows your plastic card being swiped isn't over the limit... hint: the terminal does it.

 

[Boatboy24]

I'll still shop at these places but I'll use my credit card or cash.

Don't give them the extra profit by using cash. Use your card and force them to pay the processing fees.

 

[zaphon]

Don't give them the extra profit by using cash. Use your card and force them to pay the processing fees.

Pay with AMEX. They have the highest fees.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Wow - How does a Point Of Sale system know your plastic card is over the limit? Again, no phone connectivity is needed. The tokenized card is already on the phone (not in the cloud) and the card-reader at the retail establishment does the rest.

Through the credit card authorization process, which is what happens when you swipe a card at the terminal. If Apple Pay can use that system then I concede the point. Yet I see when looking for answers on this specific point that some say it can and some say not.

 

[mrbrown]

Actually they probably can't. A move like this would spawn a lot of AntiTrust issues, something Apple probably doesn't want since they're giving Microsoft a run for their money with proprietary technologies. And default apps. And everything else Microsoft were sued for in the 90s because of AntiTrust.

The Justice Department pursued an antitrust action against Microsoft because they had 90%+ of the desktop market and were using their weight to bully others and destroy Netscape. Apple has nowhere near even 1% of the payment market (even with Apple Pay, it's miniscule). Removing MCX would not draw the ire of regulators.

What will, though, is MCX merchants willfully blocking NFC, since you know, its a consortium made up of some of the biggest merchants in the US (i.e. Walmart), especially since the head of said consortium, a Walmart executive, has reportedly made comments like, "I don't care, as long as Visa suffers."

 

[BFaro]

This antiquated technology will be dead on arrival.


You want people's drivers license, social security number and bank account number?

Lol.

Up here in Canada, you don’t have to give your Social Sec # to anyone but banks (and only if your going to earn interest) and any government institutions where money/benefits may be involved.

Anyone else can ask for it but you don’t have to give it to them. This goes for credit card applications, cashing cheques, etc.

Do americans readily hand over their Social Sec # to anyone asking for it?

 

[BuffaloTF]

Through the credit card authorization process, which is what happens when you swipe a card at the terminal. If Apple Pay can use that system then I concede the point.

... that's exactly what it does. It is just like a plastic card with a PayPass or PayWave chip. No contact, terminal takes the identifying information, sends it along to the terminal owner to validate if the number is accurate, who sends it to the bank it was drawn on to verify funds, who sends it backwards towards the terminal with approvals.