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Several Retailers to Begin Testing Apple Pay Rival CurrentC
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It's getting quite embarassing for people from the US when you visit EU countries. During a trip to Norway/Finland/Sweden a few weeks ago, some US couple in our group couldn't withdraw any money from ATMs, because their US card didn't support EMV.
I'd love to see someone post a CurrentC transaction video on YouTube. For a website where there are literally videos of everything you could ever think of, I find it hard to believe that nobody has posted one yet (or at least one I could find). Makes me wonder if ANYONE has EVER used it ANYWHERE.
Was in Target yesterday and had the same experience as the other poster, with the machine beeping at me about sliding the debit card and the cashier telling me it was because of my chipped card. But, it didn't ask for a pin and I didn't have to sign anything. I slid the card into the machine, the machine did its processing, then ejected the card.
I'd never have even heard of them except for the (disconnect) connection with ApplePay...
Normally, who knows what company runs the network that your Visa/MC transactions go over when you purchase at a store. I'd notice when someone uses a Square but otherwise most people would never know.
Gary
LOL. That is awful. I don't even understand the "tell the cashier you're paying with a mobile payment". What is that supposed to mean to them? What is mobile about it?
I'm wondering what percentage of Target stores actually have chip readers. There's a Target right across from my local Walmart, and I'd rather go to Target if they take chip cards. Never again will I swipe my card at Target.
Weren't certain retailers testing this phony system last year? What happened—they wouldn't go away?
Yes, it's an interest free loan if you pay the balance every month and many cards give rewards too. And it eliminates having to carry large amounts of cash.
I was in Denmark last year, and they were all "enter you PIN" and I was all "derp, what?" They found a way to process it without the PIN, but I could tell this teenDaner cashier was very confused. It was Copenhagen proper, so I'm not sure how she had never dealt with a dumb American and his credit card yet before.
The Target stores in my metro area have had the new machines for quite a few months, but yesterday was the first time that I was ever "required" to use the chip reader.
Been to Copenhagen several times and only had the occasional hiccup with my debit and (non-chip) credit cards. I'd find a place that would have trouble with one but would be okay with another. It was interesting but nothing really difficult.
Exactly. I put as much on my credit card as possible and pay it off every month. There are no rewards for writing checks or using a debit card. Of course it's a different story if you can't afford to pay off the balance every month.
At my my local target in Minnesota you no longer swipe if you have a chip card.
Most of the world other than the US refers to checking accounts as current accounts. So the use of the word "current" makes sense, but not to most people in the US.
I believe they are going to do Apple Pay, by the end of the year, part of their plan was to get Chip & Pin on all readers first and for their Red Cards. All cards at Target that have a Chip, can not be
swiped any more.
In most countries, AmEx is only accepted at posh places. I bet the average purchase amount with AmEx is way higher than Visa/MasterCard which means they can forgo a big chunk of the market and still do better than the competitors… kind of like Apple compared to the rest of the market. Makes good business sense...
My thoughts exactly.
How on earth do they think that CurrentC is going to fare in the rest of the world?
NFC (and Chip and Pin) have been used in many parts of the years for years and years.
ApplePay builds on that existing network.
CurrentC? Yeah right.
Or is CurrentC going to be another of those US Only (ha-ha) solutions.
There is a world out there with bigger markets than the USA. Why aren't they going after them then?
And you do know that it does not offer any protection unlike in the rest of the world where a PIN number has to be entered to validate the transaction.
The U.S. system is designed to make it easy for the customer, not safer. In that regard, no different than the magnetic stripe… wait, actually, with the stripe customers either had to show their ID - when the card was not signed - or sign and the merchant had to verify the signature.
What I highly dislike is the fact that the banks/Credit card issuers are advertising the chip as a security feature. It's not, it makes thinks worse!