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Apple Pay Rival CurrentC Launching in Limited Trial Next Month as Exclusivity Expires

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The Merchant Customer Exchange's contactless payment system, CurrentC, is gearing up for a limited trial run next month in the stores of the companies that began backing MCX in 2012, including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, according to unnamed sources speaking with Bloomberg.

The service is backed by a large roster of retailers, from Sears to Wendy's, who support the platform as a way to avoid losing integral shopping data to an increasingly competitive market thanks to the likes of Apple and Google.

CurrentC is different from Apple Pay however, using barcodes and RFID scanners in place of NFC terminals Apple took advantage of with Apple Pay. As Bloomberg points out, it also has a major hurdle regarding the signing of deals with major credit card companies, something it has yet to do.
While MCX is getting closer to releasing its app, there are plenty of hurdles. It hasn't signed deals with major credit-card companies like Visa to use bank-issued card accounts within the app. That means a shopper wouldn't be able to use, say, a Visa debit card from JPMorgan Chase & Co. This can be done with competing products like Apple Pay. Instead, users of MCX's app will be limited to private-label store cards, like Target's REDcard, or they'll have to give MCX their checking-account details.
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Also worrisome for MCX is the three-year exclusivity contract each retailer signed when the company began talks of the CurrentC system back in 2012. Those contracts -- which prohibited partnering with other mobile payment services -- begin to end next month, alongside CurrentC's soft launch in August. The company has already felt the weight of this, as Best Buy announced back in April it would begin supporting Apple Pay within its mobile app, with in-store support gearing up for later in 2015.

Not long after, MCX's CEO at the time, Dekkers Davidson, left the company, with a spokeswoman telling press that Davidson's exit had nothing to do with the announcement made by Best Buy days before. Payments security analyst Julie Conroy spoke on the subject to Bloomberg, reiterating on the public's trust issues with the company following a hack last year and stating simply, "I'm increasingly skeptical of their chance to really make a dent."

Article Link: Apple Pay Rival CurrentC Launching in Limited Trial Next Month as Exclusivity Expires
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/24/currentc-launching-in-limited-trial/
I don't want it. I remember reading they were hacked last October.

The big problem is no credit cards. Pretty much just ACH debits. This means, if fraud happens, you are out that cash, and you can't contest it, as you can with credit cards. I'm pretty sure this is why the merchants like it -- no fear of Visa/MC and credit card dispute paperwork.

Definitely not a service I'd trust around my wallet.
 
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Reactions: DesterWallaboo, shareef777, tooloud10 and 19 others
I could jump through a million hoops, more awkward than swiping a card, to give a few specific retailers direct, insecure access to my bank account, putting all of the fraud liability on myself while they build and sell a profile on my life.

Or I could use fast, simple, secure, private, widely-supported Apple Pay that pays out of my existing, fraud-protected credit cards.

I'll have to sleep on it...
 
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this is so half baked they should just give up its so stupid i hope it fails i would rather my data stay more private its good to see what companies are looking for that data like the hungry wolves they are
 
Best Buy, Target, Kohl's, Dunkin Donuts, and others have already started accepting, or will begin accepting Apple Pay transactions in the future. I predict current-C will be dead by Valentine's Day next year.

Visa & MasterCard are part of the payment transaction(s) for a good cause - they protect the consumer and provide them with zero liability from fraudulent transactions on their account.

It's aggravating to watch companies get cheaper and cheaper by the day - now it's to the point where the companies are willing to put the responsibility solely on the customer to deal with these types of problems.
 
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\-V-/ said:
Apply Pay is nice and all ... but it requires an iPhone. There are still millions of people that use other types of phones ... so options are a good thing.
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There are alternatives for Android phones. And the way everything is designed, if you accept either of them then the other one comes for free automatically. Actually, if you accept contactless debit/credit cards, both come for free and you'd have to invest extra effort to turn one of them off.

The point of CurrentC is that it has huge advantages for the trader, and huge, huge disadvantages for the customer. Sellers may be quite happy giving you a rubbish experience if it adds money to their pocket. On the other hand, if one store offers a nice experience that is also safe and doesn't give the seller access to your bank account, and the other store doesn't, where will you go shopping?
 
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\-V-/ said:
Apply Pay is nice and all ... but it requires an iPhone. There are still millions of people that use other types of phones ... so options are a good thing.
Click to expand...

And I'm all for options, but this isn't a very good one.

Also, while I don't know much about it, I believe Android Pay is pretty much identical to Apple Pay, so that covers a very large percentage of mobile users.

I don't know what the percentage of iPhone users are using iPhone 5s and older devices, but as we move forward those will eventually be replaced with new phones.
 
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Reactions: rbrian, centauratlas, nostaws and 2 others
\-V-/ said:
Apply Pay is nice and all ... but it requires an iPhone. There are still millions of people that use other types of phones ... so options are a good thing.
Click to expand...

There's also these two other payment services called Android Pay, and also Samsung Pay, which use NFC payment solutions just like how Apple Pay works. I cannot believe I have to tell you this.
 
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I use it but I do work for one of the last retailers that carry it. It is ok nothing to brag about. It does saves time and eliminate carring extra cards in your wallet. The neat thing about is that it combines employee discount and loyalty cards and coupons. I know apple will eventually put the loyalty cards on apple pay and that will be the last straw in currentc
 
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