Direct access to my bank account is just so not going to happen.
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Several Retailers to Begin Testing Apple Pay Rival CurrentC
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UK Card fees to be capped in December
That's either going to hurt Amex pretty bad... or encourage more retailers to accept Amex.
People moan that there are card fees but seem to forget that when they have a dispute with a retailer that is in no way the fault of the credit card companies, they have no problem holding them liable too and getting their money back from them.
So, I have to provide these people with my bank routing and account information? Then to use it, I have to open an app and scan a code; after which, I can make a payment, allowing the retailer to make more profit, while giving up any loyalty points/miles I might earn as well as fraud protections provided by my credit card company?
Sign me up!!!
Sign me up!!!
I'm in the U.S. I have a chip credit card that I have used at Target. No pin required yet. Just place the card, chip side first, in the card reader and wait for it to processes.
I have noticed that Target does appear to have the most advanced readers that I have yet encountered. I wonder why...
You have Visa, MC, AMEX, Discover. Seems like there's plenty of competition that doesn't quite qualify as an "uncompetitive monopoly". Besides, vendors don't have to accept any of them as a form of payment.
Irrespective of which service is ultimately superior, Apple has to stay proactive in strengthening ApplePay. Apple has been notoriously complacent is recent years whereby they assume that any product that they release will immediately be competitive on the basis of their brand and ecosystem.
How is this uncompetitive and how is this a monopoly?
Charging via a debit or credit card is one of the many ways (cash, check, money order, ACH, etc.) to pay for goods and services in the US. Therefore, it's inherently competitive. Not only that, but Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and others have successfully broken into the payment market and there currently exists multiple payment processing companies. To say the market is uncompetitive is just false. It may have a high barrier of entry, true, but uncompetitive it is not.
As for a monopoly, again, paying by card is not an exclusive option or a right. Visa and MasterCard are two completely different companies - if it were an '-opoly' of any kind (which it's not) it certainly wouldn't be a 'mon'. These companies are offering a service and I think they should be compensated for establishing an easy-to-use and ubiquitous payment network.
If the market thinks that the transaction fees for credit card services are too high, then it will make an alternative. The single failure of CurrentC is not a signature of the market being uncompetitive or monopolistic, they just had crappy marketing on top of a crappy idea.
Since CurrentC attempts to cut out credit card fees then I could see it becoming viable if they had a decent rewards program that rivaled the major credit cards. As of now it only looks like an app that wants to know your personal information and purchasing habits so it can inundate you with ads (not to mention the suspect security issues of allowing it to have sensitive personal and banking info). It doesn't make payment any easier than what we now have now with contactless payment so they have their work cut out for them to make it attractive for anyone to actually use.
I feel like a **** using Pay right now.* I'm in a small English city.
(*I'm generally self conscious and have anxiety... But.... )
I could never imagine using this convoluted POS of a payment system.
I can't wait til Pay is a widely known/ established system.
(*I'm generally self conscious and have anxiety... But.... )
I could never imagine using this convoluted POS of a payment system.
I can't wait til Pay is a widely known/ established system.
This EU cap doesn't apply to Amex (or other "three party" schemes) as they issue their own cards directly (not V/MC + bank) and hence don't pay interchange fees (which is the element being capped).
Say it ain't so, Publix... You're better than that!
How the heck did it take them three years to start testing? Sounds like it was a Kickstarter campaign or something.
Uh, why? I have to use these at Target now. They're much harder to use than the old swipe mechanism. They just make me extra annoyed that I can't use Apple Pay.
Agree completely. I find it quick and easy to use, but feel like a prat using it in London. I've never seen anyone else use it, and the assistants tend to roll their eyes!
Still I never got why Amex asks double the fee that Visa and MasterCard charge. It is a surefire way of pricing yourself out of the market. Many businesses in Europe refuse Amex because of it and they lose a lot of business. They must have done their own calculations on this, but somehow I'm surprised that the income from the higher fee can compensate for the loss of business of that same fee rate.
The manager at our local Publix said that they'll be supporting Apple Pay as soon as all the stores have NFC rolled out. He thought it would be fall 2015.
They must have the tech all figured out, surely?
It feels like the Columbus trial is for marketing to figure out how to sell it to the public: Adverts, TV spots, editorials, freebies, etc.
And in a narrow market like Columbus, it's going to be exciting watching the traditional card companies fight back. Wish I was there. It's shaping-up to be quite the PR brawl!
Will it be CurrentC's Last Stand?
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