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That's a list of stores supporting CurrentC not all of those have blocked Apple Pay. So far I know of only CVS and Rite Aid that have done so, it seems target will support both, for now.
The design, as we know it, is inherently flawed. It's frightening that Walmart and others who are supporting this don't see the red flags.
What would be really interesting is to see Google and Apple not allow the CurrentC apps in their respective stores.
They know that it's inherently flawed, their objective is to cut Visa and Mastercard out of the loop, not to make something the consumer actually wants or is easy to use. Unfortunately their premise is flawed and this is going to be DOA.
Especially if Apple is successful in courting major transit authorities. Could you imaging in NYC being able to have your MTA pass on your phone etc. Additionally I've read that Apple is already working with companies like HID for building access cards and things of the like. As a condo dweller and office person i'd love to be able to dump those stupid access cards and just use my phone.
Could you imaging in NYC being able to have your MTA pass on your phone etc.
That would be horrible and cause major delays. But I favor the idea of making a purchase of the MTA card without touching that nasty ass vending machine.
That would be horrible and cause major delays. But I favor the idea of making a purchase of the MTA card without touching that nasty ass vending machine.
Depends, if you have to validate with touchID, that would suck ass.
If you don't then that's fine, it's no different than those wallet cases that you put your RFID chipped transit card into it.
Assuming NYC uses chipped transit cards. In the Bay Area we do, same with Hong Kong and England.
They know that it's inherently flawed, their objective is to cut Visa and Mastercard out of the loop, not to make something the consumer actually wants or is easy to use. Unfortunately their premise is flawed and this is going to be DOA.
Yea, but don't you think they thought through this, at least a little bit? The whole design strikes me as having been designed by a bunch of drunks.
Yea, but don't you think they thought through this, at least a little bit? The whole design strikes me as having been designed by a bunch of drunks.
There's a business insider article that they posted the other dated quoting the Walmart exec that helped brew up this idea and he basically said I don't give a F*** if it's good for consumers I just want to cut out Visa.
here's the article
Wal-Mart and Apple are in a bit of a tussle over Apple Pay, Apple's mobile payment system on the iPhone 6.
Wal-Mart is a leader of the Merchant Customer Exchange, a group of merchants working on their own mobile payment system.
Wal-Mart is not accepting Apple Pay right now. Members of MCX, including Rite Aid and CVS, shut down support for Apple Pay after a few days of accepting it, most likely out of a contractual obligation to MCX to use only MCX's mobile payment solution.
MCX's alternative to Apple Pay is called CurrentC. It has been in development since 2012, and it is a much clunkier solution. The user has to open the CurrentC app, then use a camera to scan a QR code, which is a boxy, bar code type of thing. Or, the user unlocks the phone, opens the app, then has a QR code generated that gets scanned by the retailer.
After we wrote about CurrentC earlier, a Wal-Mart PR rep reached out.
During a back-and-forth, we asked why Wal-Mart didn't accept Apple Pay, which is a pretty elegant solution to mobile payments. An iPhone owner simply holds his or her phone to a payment terminal, then uses his or her fingerprint to confirm payment.
Here's what we were told:
There are certainly a lot of compelling technologies being developed, which is great for the mobile-commerce industry as a whole. Ultimately, what matters is that consumers have a payment option that is widely accepted, secure, and developed with their best interests in mind. MCX member merchants already collectively serve a majority of Americans every day. MCX’s members believe merchants are in the best position to provide a mobile solution because of their deep insights into their customers’ shopping and buying experiences.
Our emphasis is added in there. These are mega corporations fighting for billions of dollars — Apple, the banks, Wal-Mart, etc. — so it's hard to know whom to really trust.
But we would trust that Apple is working with consumers in mind.
And we would guess that Wal-Mart is less concerned about consumers and more concerned with eliminating the 2% fee that comes with purchases by credit card. CurrentC bypasses credit-card fees, which will save Wal-Mart money in the long run.
In fact, Ron Shevlin, a retail banking analyst, says he asked former Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott why MCX could succeed when so many other consortia had failed. Scott's answer tells you a lot about CurrentC, and MCX. He said: "I don’t know that it will, and I don’t care. As long as Visa suffers."
Additionally, Apple is not willing to allow retailers to access customer's shopping habits, patterns, etc. from PAY. Not sure about Google Wallet, but basically the payment system provider gets to not only reduce the merchant fees, but sell/use the customer habit data.
What exactly does Apple Pay know besides that Miz bought something for $3,500 at whackituntilitdrops.com brick and mortar store? Do they know the size and color of the fleshlight?
What exactly does Apple Pay know besides that Miz bought something for $3,500 at whackituntilitdrops.com brick and mortar store? Do they know the size and color of the fleshlight?
They will know that you shop at Starbuck at the corner of X and Y every thursday and Sunday. When the Cigar store next to starbucks wants to promote a sale, this would be useful info to know in terms of who they push advertisements to.
If they wanted to really wipe out Visa/MC/Amex give me 3-5% discount for paying cash for everything and I would consider it. I agree that what they really want is my shopping data so they can send me spam.
Nonsense, it will trickle down! With that 2% they wouldn't keep it or give it to their shareholders, they'd invest in their company, hire more people (even though they won't need them), give their employees a raise and better benefits!
It will trickle down to everyone, just like the Bush tax cuts did, duh! Why do you think the wealth gap in America is so small?
Why claim they don't track purchases then, if they really are.
If they are found out to be then that would probably result in a big legal nightmare.
It's like those people I've been reading about who called Apple with getting help on Apple pay purchases, they tell them they can't do anything but to contact their bank/cc or merchant because they don't see anything
