MCX Executive: Social Security Number Won't Be Required, Most Customers Don't Use Major Credit Cards

[unagimiyagi]

The best thing about CurrentC is the name. Nice! I like it!

Unfortunately for them, this system is D.O.A, a trainwreck in slo-mo for all to see.

It fails in every conceivable way:

--needlessly complex for the consumer
--insecure vs competitors
--completely out of touch with what consumers want.
--completely in touch with what the consortium members want, which is to eliminate their credit card fees. Great, you'll get what you want for the 1% of people who sign up to use this thing. The other 99% of us will not like seeing "visa not accepted here. But that's ok, we'll give you 0.1% cashback on your purchase for using CurrentC." Meanwhile, the other 99% of us will get 10x the amount cashback for continuing to use our Visa cards and not have more loyalty cards to manage.

Adios CurrentC. You're not even going to be as successful as HD-DVD.

Advice: completely copy Apple pay and just make it available on Android. And then negotiate a way smaller fee that you have to pay the major credit card companies.

 

[h4ck]

just give up, MCX. you're fighting a losing battle.

 

[avanpelt]

MCX has previously said CurrentC will accept debit and credit cards in addition to connecting directly to a checking account, and Rankin downplayed the focus on connecting to a user's bank account, saying that he doesn't expect it to be the most prevalent CurrentC payment method.

This totally negates one of the main selling points of this system to merchants who bought into the system -- to allow merchants to sidestep credit card transaction fees.

I think MCX sold their system to merchants as being ACH only until Apple Pay was released and MCX is now backtracking on that and trying to portray the system as credit card friendly in the hopes that it will gain traction once it's released. Fat chance.

These merchants made a 500k investment in a subpar product in the hopes that they could sidestep credit card processor fees. The product was sold to them by some obviously shady people who engage in double-talk whenever they release a statement to the press. The merchants might as well own up to their half a million dollar mistake and pull out of the consortium.

 

[samcraig]

The best thing about CurrentC is the name. Nice! I like it!

Unfortunately for them, this system is D.O.A.

It fails in every conceivable way:

--needlessly complex for the consumer
--insecure vs competitors
--completely out of touch with what consumers want.
--completely in touch with what the consortium members want, which is to eliminate credit card fees. The last thing that consumers want is to see "visa not accepted here".

1. compared to Apple Pay - which not everyone has or would use
2. So far
3. Says who? Do you speak for all consumers?
4. Of course it is, it's been created by the consortium. And no where does it say that they will not take credit cards. Why is this "myth" or FUD being spread around as if it's fact?!

 

[jrswizzle]

That's exactly how the Starbucks mobile payment system works, which is quite successful. Just saying.

Unless the CurrentC app will allow for these payment QR codes to be loaded into Passbook (automatically each time you pay with one), it's not the same. At least not for iOS users.

For me, my Starbucks payment process is as follows:

(1) Walk into Starbucks
(2) Slide Passbook lockscreen alert for Starbucks pass to the right
(3) Pay

I still don't see how this will take off. And I don't see any reason for it.

 

[samcraig]

This totally negates one of the main selling points of this system to merchants who bought into the system -- to allow merchants to sidestep credit card transaction fees.

I think you and others have missed the point. This is not about eliminating the charges. It's about reducing it.

 

[goldnose]

Touche But I still don't understand it. I tried it a couple of times at Starbucks when it first launched and lining up your phone with their scanner is awkward, and you really start feeling embarrassed after five-ish seconds of waiting for it to scan, particularly when I could have just handed them the card.

I did use Apple Pay at Home Depot yesterday and honestly, it wasn't any more convenient than using my card. And Apple Pay is by far the best implementation of mobile payments. I will use it when I can, though, because I believe it is more secure. But once we get chip-and-pin cards? I don't know.

You really felt awkward over five-ish seconds (btw I must have amazing aim because it never takes me that long)

 

[iSRS]

The bottom line is they are restricting choice. Because they DEMAND that a store use them and no one else would cause me not to use them. If their product was any good, they wouldn't have to try so hard to convince us.

Most of us don't use credit cards? What planet are they from?

Since they have already been hacked even before they have gone live, why would anyone trust them? Not me.

PLUS there is ZERO fraud protection. If there is an issue, I have to sort it out myself? No way!

Most customers don't use major credit cards?

What is he on drugs or is lying his second nature?

If most people don't use major credit cards, how did so many people sign up to use Apple Pay the first week?

Yeah, most people I know are CC all the time. Why give reward points away using cash?

But this guy makes little to no sense.

Another issue has been CurrentC's ability to link to a customer's bank account, allowing merchants to avoid paying costly credit card fees, a feature Rankin says is actually based on customer preference. 75 percent of all purchases made at the 50 MCX merchants (including Walmart, Target, Lowe's, and more) are done with cash, debit cards, and gift cards, rather than with Visa, MasterCard, and American Express credit cards.

Followed by:

MCX has previously said CurrentC will accept debit and credit cards in addition to connecting directly to a checking account, and Rankin downplayed the focus on connecting to a user's bank account, saying that he doesn't expect it to be the most prevalent CurrentC payment method.

So what is it? Today your app doesn't accept Credit Cards. Yet you are blocking methods that are only credit/debit cards? Then you base your direct tie to bank accounts as what customers want, based on the (likely made up) 75% of customers don't use credit cards number, but then downplay tying to the bank account because that isn't what most will be doing? Which is it?

I've decided. It isn't that he thinks we are dumb. It is that he is that dumb but doesn't realize it, so if it is ok for him, it is ok for us.

 

[mrkruser]

MrKruser

No, they're right! I use a Minor Credit Card. Also, I ALWAYS buy re-fillable gift card, and use that to buy my groceries, using MCX. Yeah...

 

[vpndev]

Full-court-press scramble-mode.

These folks are starting to understand what "blowback" is. A bit late though.

 

[aduzik]

The 25% of transactions currently by credit card will be larger in both revenue and profit for the retailers than the 75% not by credit card.

Exactly! This point can't be emphasized enough. That 75% is almost certainly 75% of transactions, not 75% of dollar volume.

----------

You really felt awkward over five-ish seconds (btw I must have amazing aim because it never takes me that long)

I think they have better scanners now, or better iPhone screens are easier to scan now. But when it first rolled out my success rate was pretty low, yeah. Also, my default emotion is "awkward".

 

[Ethosik]

Can you imagine being stuck behind somebody using this system? There are lots of things that can go wrong here that will make this VERY SLOW.

Of course, it won't be better than that person that wants to pay with lots of pennies, or wants to dig out change just so it is exact. That drives me crazy. $4.91. I would take $5 bill out and pay with that, but I have been stuck behind people that take the time to dig out 91 cents.

 

[jrswizzle]

1. compared to Apple Pay - which not everyone has or would use
2. So far
3. Says who? Do you speak for all consumers?
4. Of course it is, it's been created by the consortium. And no where does it say that they will not take credit cards. Why is this "myth" or FUD being spread around as if it's fact?!

But the point for consumers is to do away with traditional credit card technology right? Hence why we're being forced into "chip-and-pin" cards and terminals. The magnetic strip technology is old and insecure.

Chip-and-pin is more secure, but so far it's not convenient as it takes quite a long time to process. And even so, the card is still out there and "chip-and-pin" offers no extra security for online payments.

The purpose of CurrentC is two-fold....(1) Avoid CC processing fees and (2) monetize a larger portion of their consumers by adding the ability to track those who don't use CCs. It's pretty evident that consumers desires/wants haven't made it to the top of the list. Just looking at the process and all the outrage over what may or may not be required will tell you as much.

As far as Apple Pay is concerned, CurrentC isn't even close. And though I haven't used Google Wallet in sometime, Google would be smart to take the opportunity to advertise their NFC payment wallet and ride the coattails of Apple Pay and the negative press CurrentC is getting.

Between Apple Pay and Google Wallet, most everyone gets covered/has the option of an NFC payment solution. At that point, I really can't imagine why anyone would want to use CurrentC.

 

[vpndev]

Time for Apple to pull the app...

No. That would generate bad reaction and criticism. Far better to let it fail all on its own.

 

[jrswizzle]

Touche But I still don't understand it. I tried it a couple of times at Starbucks when it first launched and lining up your phone with their scanner is awkward, and you really start feeling embarrassed after five-ish seconds of waiting for it to scan, particularly when I could have just handed them the card.

I did use Apple Pay at Home Depot yesterday and honestly, it wasn't any more convenient than using my card. And Apple Pay is by far the best implementation of mobile payments. I will use it when I can, though, because I believe it is more secure. But once we get chip-and-pin cards? I don't know.

My experience with Apple Pay has been quite a bit more convenient. Registers right away and takes a matter of 2 seconds to complete. Never pull a card out of my wallet to hand to the cashier to swipe.

I look forward to not having to carry a wallet anymore. Just some cash in my pocket and my iPhone with all my cards and identification on it. Secured by fingerprint and complex password, and easily wipe-able if lost and easily restored to a different device if necessary.

 

[jettredmont]

Isn't that the same thing as saying "you're holding it wrong"... Come on, most people are actually paying cash at these places... Are they even serious?

"Yeah, we only put that SSN thing on our web site because WE are idiots" should be their new motto.

Or "trust us, we know idiots, cause we are idiots ourselves".

No, 75% are paying with cards that say "Debit" on them, even if they are using them as a credit card instead of a debit card. Note that there are also a good number of credit cards which are able to be used as debit but are typically not (because ethic have larger cash-withdrawel fees for debit purchases).

I can see a majority (75% is larger than I'd expect though) using non-credit cards (debit, then cash, then check / gift cards), primarily because it tends to be more convenient (pin over a signature on a clunky and barely-working digitizer pad). Honestly, that is the lesson he should be taking away. Given the minor convenience difference between tapping an (insecure) four-digit pin and scrawling an (illegible after digitization) signature on a pad, consumer chose the slight convenience. I'd also add the trade-off between delayed payment (credit card which they pay at the end of the month) and immediate payment for budgetary purposes. For this, they give up fraud protection and rewards money. It seems like the most obvious lesson is that customer behavior is very sensitive to convenience.

So, to come out with a less-convenient - than physical debit cards, much much less convenient than competing modern payment systems - approach which has delayed posting (all charges posting at once at the end of the day instead of the instant it is authorized) thus destroying any budgeting benefit of using a debit card while not yielding the 30-day-float benefit of a credit card, and of course not improving the fraud protection or offering significant rewards (short-term maybe to win business, but not long-term) ... and that is supposed to be more attractive to consumers?

I'm sorry, but this is still a non-starter. The company behind the tech has shown itself inept and to not think things through before it puts out public statements. The men behind the company are incredibly customer-hostile businessmen. It just doesn't add up to anything more than a curious historical footnote. I'm sure it will be released and deployed at some point - with the Walmart money behind it there is no doubt it will get more than its fair chance - but I think we'd be a resoundingly stupid consumer body if we were to accept anything similar to what has been proposed here.

Do credit card companies make money? Yes, of course they do. But, they do it by providing a service which customers have appreciated for many years, not the least of which is their fraud detection and indemnity operation which has saved me personally about a thousand dollars in the past year. They make money providing a useful service which I gladly pay for. I don't appreciate someone trying to take that choice away from me.

 

[goldnose]

Can you imagine being stuck behind somebody using this system? There are lots of things that can go wrong here that will make this VERY SLOW.

Of course, it won't be better than that person that wants to pay with lots of pennies, or wants to dig out change just so it is exact. That drives me crazy. $4.91. I would take $5 bill out and pay with that, but I have been stuck behind people that take the time to dig out 91 cents.

How about the lady that watches the cashier ring up her purchase and then only after she tells her the amount she decides to plop down her massive purse on the counter and than proceeds to go through it to find her massive wallet, then looks through the 100s of store cards to find the card associated with the store, and than counts out the cash to pay.
I never understood why she doesn't get out her wallet and store card while the cashier is ringing her up so as soon as the cashier is done she can pay.

 

[noobinator]

it's like the last whimper from a dying puppy...

 

[avanpelt]

I think you and others have missed the point. This is not about eliminating the charges. It's about reducing it.

The only way it reduces fees the merchant pays is if someone links their checking account to the app for ACH transfer and pays that way. I suppose the merchants could set up promos that will only work if the customer pays via ACH debit with the CurrentC app; but I'm not sure the merchant would readily be able to tell if someone is paying via credit card in the CurrentC app or via ACH debit in the CurrentC app. I guess time will tell -- if the product ever launches -- which, at this point, is a big if.

 

[ChrisCW11]

Yes, frictionless

Pull out your phone, unlock it, swipe 50 times to get to the screen that has the app icon, click on the app icon, wait for it to load, wait for the QR code to be received, turn phone to the cashier, wait for the cashier to pull out the hand scanner, wait for cashier to scan the QR code about 50 times until the scanner registers it properly, wait for the transaction to process because the cash register is running Windows 95 with a dialup modem, wait for the printing of the confirmation receipt, and then run like F***K out of the store because the 30 people in line behind you are giving you evil glances and talking about shoving the phone down your throat.

Any retailer or "executive" thinking this is better than tapping a phone against a wireless terminal is in absolute denial.

Also most customers do not use major credit cards, when was the last time he was in the US, the land where people have many credit cards that are perpetually maxed out?

 

[3square]

lol feel bad for this guy defending a losing battle. wonders if parts of his brain actually conflicts with what he says…

"You pull out the phone, open the app

…AND right there... your system lose to ApplePay

click pay and a QR code is displayed. She scans it, and you're done. It's like when the QR code is sent to you by the airline and you use it for your boarding pass."

"It's frictionless."

 

[philipk]

1. compared to Apple Pay - which not everyone has or would use
2. So far
3. Says who? Do you speak for all consumers?
4. Of course it is, it's been created by the consortium. And no where does it say that they will not take credit cards. Why is this "myth" or FUD being spread around as if it's fact?!

Before Wednesday of last week their own website said merchant credit cards. They pulled the word merchant on Friday.

Another thing people seem to forget when they keep saying very few people use Apple pay is that for MCX to succeed they need the innovators. The innovators are not the cash low income buyer. The intervenors are the people who own smart phones. Without the innovators using MCX first, no one will.

 

[kdarling]

Speculation:

Using a barcode no doubt made a lot of sense when this purchase method was first thought up, back when few popular devices supported NFC.

So, ironically, Apple's long delay before adopting NFC, might've been a prime motivator for MCX using a non-NFC method.

 

[avanpelt]

Yeah, most people I know are CC all the time. Why give reward points away using cash?

But this guy makes little to no sense.



Followed by:



So what is it? Today your app doesn't accept Credit Cards. Yet you are blocking methods that are only credit/debit cards? Then you base your direct tie to bank accounts as what customers want, based on the (likely made up) 75% of customers don't use credit cards number, but then downplay tying to the bank account because that isn't what most will be doing? Which is it?

I've decided. It isn't that he thinks we are dumb. It is that he is that dumb but doesn't realize it, so if it is ok for him, it is ok for us.

Exactly. To be engaging in so much double-talk before a product is even released doesn't help any product's chance of success. That's even more true when your product is aimed at the financial industry. This guy needs to pick up a copy of "Telling the Truth for Dummies" pronto!

 

[mcdj]

I can't even believe retailers are on board with this. Take a photo of a QR code and show it to a cashier? Are they serious? I thought QR codes went out with Geocities.

Why not add another layer of security, and make us DRAW the QR code.