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MCX Confirms Retailer Exclusivity for CurrentC Mobile Payments, but No Fines for Leaving Consortium

what shopping habits will they be able to collect when people will refuse to shop there? :rolleyes:

also, like i've said before, what's stopping someone from going there and just swiping their card anyways? they still pay the SAME fee that they would if that same customer used apple pay. that is what makes no sense here to block NFC.
 
QuiteSure said:
MCX members should immediately adopt Apple Pay if there is no economic/legal disincentive for their doing so. Then customers will continue shopping at their stores, getting used to making payments with their smartphones. When CurrentC is ready to debut, customers will already be primed to take out their phones and make a payment. If CurrentC can compete by lowering prices and bundling loyalty cards and other discounts, then let it; the false competition by freezing out another method will engender only continued bad will amongst consumers.
Click to expand...

it appears the stores can't use CurrentC and :apple:pay.. if you accept CurrentC, then you're prohibited from accepting any other form of mobile payment.

(source: OP)
 
Nice Spin, but the reality is that there is a Fine for leaving. Each company put in $250k-$500k into the consortium and if they leave they will not get their money back. This in essence is a fine for bailing. That means most will probably wait to see if CurrentC gets any traction before writing off the investment.
 
In the contract?

flat five said:
it appears the stores can't use CurrentC and :apple:pay.. if you accept CurrentC, then you're prohibited from accepting any other form of mobile payment.

(source: OP)
Click to expand...
Well, this is what the whole question is, how can MCX strong-arm its members to refuse Apple Pay? Sure, if there are contractual prohibitions then you're correct, they can't do both because they'll be sued or suffer some other penalty. This story is about a blog that suggests there are no fines for accepting NFC payments while being part of the MCX consortium. I was just wondering that if there are no penalties at all the retailers should just go ahead and accept NFC payments.
 
Exclusivity without the ability to coexist with other payment options + needing copious amounts of personal information during a time where personal data security is a hot topic, = CurrentC is a nonstarter.

The last company I want having my personal information is Wal*Mart, or Best Buy (speaking as a Minnesotan this saddens me).
 
ipader said:
legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues....

Man Pays $14,000 Tax Bill with Spare Change
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icBdBnpf9Jg

or, Man pays property taxes with 400 pounds of coins
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2008/12/22/man-pays-property-taxes-with-400-pounds-of-coins/
Click to expand...

Yes, but they don't HAVE to take it in that way and could have refused it.

http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/currency/pages/legal-tender.aspx

"I thought that United States currency was legal tender for all debts." Some businesses or governmental agencies say that they will only accept checks, money orders or credit cards as payment, and others will only accept currency notes in denominations of $20 or smaller. Isn't this illegal?
The pertinent portion of law that applies to your question is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," which states: "United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues."

This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.
 
They are not fined on leaving, but they will also not get back their significant fundings already made. That's the trick. ;)

By the way, 'hold steady for QR code scanning', how is this going to work out with the tremor patients that are checking out their medications?
 
Privacy Policy for CurrentC

Anyone notice that the link that MCX provided in its blog post for CurrentC's privacy policy doesn't work!

Here's the blog:

http://www.mcx.com/blog/answers-to-your-questions/

Here's the link within it to the Privacy Policy:

http://currentc.com/50D6A97C-4B72-44D6-9021-BE0884ED2F8D/privacy-policy/

Here's what the link returns:


The resource cannot be found.
Description: HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please review the following URL and make sure that it is spelled correctly.

Requested URL: /50D6A97C-4B72-44D6-9021-BE0884ED2F8D/privacy-policy/

Yeah, I would trust them with secure info in the cloud. Right.
 
Obviously MCX is looking for guarantees... what should happen is they should remove the exclusivity requirement.

At that point, they would still have two things in their favor:

1) They could compete with Apple Pay and Google Wallet by making a better product. They have direct control over customer experience and their own success based on that.

2) Merchants would likely stay on-board due to the money they have invested.

The exclusivity clause reeks of MCX knowing they have a poor solution and are, at the moment, a one trick pony (reducing or eliminating processing fees.)

Side note:
A company in my area, Cumberland Farms, had a payment system that linked directly to your checking account. Only banking information was stored (no other personal info), however they DID pass the savings on to the consumer. You saved 10 cents per gallon of gas.

It ultimately failed and was discontinued at least in this region. MCX and the merchants don't even seem to be offering consumer discount beyond annoying BS "points" programs that require excessive personal information and access be given.

It is likely that MCX's solution will fold and won't even be an issue in several months after their launch. Once the retailer's realize they are failing to deliver, they will bail quickly and quietly turn NFC on.

Also... if all that processing volume flops to the consumer banks against their accounts, what makes the merchants think the banks won't add transaction fees to cover those types of transactions? Somebody is processing convenience volume... it wont be free for long. Someone or some entity has to absorb the cost of business.
 
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yaboyac29 said:
what shopping habits will they be able to collect when people will refuse to shop there? :rolleyes:

also, like i've said before, what's stopping someone from going there and just swiping their card anyways? they still pay the SAME fee that they would if that same customer used apple pay. that is what makes no sense here to block NFC.
Click to expand...

Yes i agree here.... I for sure will use my card if i cannot use my phone...
I believe the only way they can get people to use their system will be to provide the different price for the same product one price if you pay by card and a lower price if we pay using their system. (this i think is illegal)
 
MacRumors said:
Addressing user privacy, MCX highlights CurrentC's privacy dashboard that will allow customers to control what information is shared with retailers and argues that the system's cloud-based storage of sensitive customer information offers more security than on-device storage that could be more easily compromised through hacking or theft.
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They're joking, right? No? Of course not - entities like MCX have no sense of humor. The cloud is more secure? That was worth a good laugh . . .

MCX conveniently leaves out that CurrentC, as constituted, requires social security number, bank account info, driver's license, etc. Apple Pay does not.
 
There is a gas (petrol) station near where a live that offers a six cents per gallon discount for paying in cash versus using a credit card. I buy gas at that station whenever possible and pay in cash.

Target stores offer a 5% discount on everything you purchase when using their debit or credit card. I try to shop at Target as much as possible.

I would have no problem using CurrentC as long as the merchants who accept it split their savings on swipe fees with me. They get half and I get half.

Not everyone is as interested in saving a few pennies as I am. Some people are more motivated by convenience than by saving a few pennies. I think that are enough people in each group to make both CurrentC and Apply Pay viable payment methods.
 
This App Store review pretty much sums up my opinion on CurrentC
 

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QuiteSure said:
This story is about a blog that suggests there are no fines for accepting NFC payments while being part of the MCX consortium. I was just wondering that if there are no penalties at all the retailers should just go ahead and accept NFC payments.
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i read it as-- no fines for leaving the consortium.. not- no fines for accepting nfc while continuing to be in MCX..
??

(and if this is the case, i can understand why cvs and rite-aid turned off their nfc abilities.. they're probably unsure about the legalities at this point so they turned it off to protect themselves)
 
MacRumors said:
Beyond its arrangements with retailers, MCX also addresses the features of CurrentC in its blog post, highlighting the fact that it will work with any phone, integrate coupons and loyalty cards, support multiple forms of payment including gift cards, credit cards, and checking withdrawals.
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I can get all of those benefits right now with a loyalty card. I don't really care personally if they track what I buy as long as it's not linked to personal accounts.
My Safeway card allows them to see what I buy, I can apply discounts, and can still pay with a check, credit/debit card or cash.

It won't be just Walmart gathering your info...I would imagine that they would ALL amalgamate your information and buying/shopping habits and link it to your bank, SSN, etc. That's not something I'm comfortable with.

MacRumors said:
Addressing user privacy, MCX highlights CurrentC's privacy dashboard that will allow customers to control what information is shared with retailers and argues that the system's cloud-based storage of sensitive customer information offers more security than on-device storage that could be more easily compromised through hacking or theft.
Click to expand...

Yeah...no. Their version is not as secure as Google Wallet and NOWHERE near Apple Pay...I would never use this and will actively dissuade family and friends from using it. Too many breaches in the recent past. While AP and GW are not 100% secure (nothing is...) I'll hedge my bets with them.

And yes. I want to use NFC...as should everyone else...so I will try to frequent businesses that support that...not to punish anyone...but to reward businesses that support consumer choice. And if i absolutely HAVE to shop at an MCX business? AMEX it is. :)
 
It may already be happening...

I stopped at Walgreens last night to pick up some Rx. It's walking distance to a CVS.

I asked the pharmacist if they noticed an influx of CVS transfers this week over the past few weeks. She went wide eyed and said "How did you know that?"

When I mentioned the Apple Pay issue she just laughed and said that Walgreens has been ready/embracing this for months.

Only a small data point, but hopefully people are voting with their wallets.
 
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