The Verge:
a significant number of merchants, including heavyweights like Walmart, Kmart, 7-Eleven, and Best Buy, are in outright competition with Apple Pay. The retailers, through a joint venture formed in 2012, are building their own mobile payment app, called CurrentC. It’s expected to launch next year. In the meantime, these retailers have no intention to support Apple Pay.
There may be a lot of good reasons to not support Apple Pay and there may be good alternatives available now and in the future but CurrentC – which needs access to your checking account – and QR codes is not either of those things.
Counter-innovative strategies never end well. OTOH, a war between retailers and Apple+banks is a fun one to watch.
They will find tens of thousands of their customers ready and waiting to use ApplePay. Eventually they’ll have to cave.
I wonder how much Samsung paid the “CurrentC Consortium” to avoid supporting ApplePay. I hope it was in the hundreds of millions of USD.
Think of it this way: that anti-Apple Pay payola just might be Samsung’s last gasp in the smartphone arena before they start cutting back on their smartphone development and marketing budgets. A 63% drop in profits, year-over-year, requires some serious belt-tightning.
Time to make some popcorn.
Yes I really want trust retailers like Kmart who have a history of leaking credit card numbers.
Yeah, it will be fun! I just hope that our Passbooks on our iPhone will handle all of it and keep the user experience decent.
I think a little activism would be fun too, with iPhone owners constantly asking BestBuy employees and managers “Why not? I don’t trust you with my credit card/personal information.” I plan on asking managers every chance I get.
This is as silly as BendGate. First of all, this move not only renders Apple Pay unusable, it all kills Android Wallet too.
Second, the war CurrentC is waging is against the banks, and has been a long time coming. Apple Pay caught them by surprise and they needed to react quickly. The Walmarts of the world does not allow the Samsungs of the world to bribe or coerce them into anything.
This is not only asinine, it’s highly anti competitive – Que the DOJ.
Gonna be an issue for those people with iPhones seeing as the NFC chip is locked down, at least for now.
Yeah, it’s time for the DOJ to investigate Apple again! /s
I sure hope you’re right. In addition to preferring the convenience of Apple Pay, CurrentC is a privacy nightmare.
No. Don’t be an asshole harassing employees who have nothing to do with this decision.
no. it will be an issue for those businesses in need of money. money held by those who own iPhones with NFC chips.
What stupid companies. Driving away the customers that most retailers would kill to attract.
Haven’t shopped in any of these stores in years, so this news means little to me.
Would be interested to know if any good retailers begin to copy this alienating strategy…
Actually, when a customer doesn’t provide such feedback to employees, and the customer drifts away to the competition, the employees will suffer more as their jobs dry up. (The principle is proven, the only question here is the magnitude of opportunity for clever competitors to draw-in and capture Apple Payers…)
Waiting to see how long until the CurrentC app is pulled from the App Store.
No. Don’t “constantly” harass employees for “fun”. If you want to provide feedback, do so to the company bosses, not the guys earning minimum wage in a shop.
And if you really don’t want people to lose their jobs, maybe just accept that you won’t be able to use Apple Pay and pay with cash.
Is it in there? I couldn’t find it, but I might be region blocked.
Barely a week in the wild, Apple Pay has retailers scrambling. Likewise, Apple Sim has carriers playing defensive tactics. Looks like Apple is continuing its flummoxing, disruptive ways.
Can’t pull something that is not there yet.
The more I read about this the dumber it sounds. You’ll need to unlock your phone, open the app, scan a QR code, and have a network connection to make this “seamless and convenient payment system” to work. Also it won’t work with bank credit cards, only pre-filled store payment cards associated to your bank account.
What can possibly go wrong?
http://alexcarantza.tumblr.com/post/47456181495/decision-tree-for-using-a-qr-code
Complaining to cashiers will provide zero feedback to the people who make the decision about this topic.
This is a really dumb reason. MCX has existed for a couple of years and CurrentC existed before Apple Pay. This is entirely about Walmart trying to cut the banks and credit card companies out. Walmart’s previous attempt was to create a bank of their own which would have entitled them to cheaper card rates, but that attempt failed.
The best thing Apple could do is put the CurrentC app (if and when it is available) on the app store so reviews can compare the user experience to Apple Pay. It will be laughable.
I have a hard time believing CurrentC can post an honest privacy policy that will meet Apple’s standards.
I am wondering if this is part of a war against the credit card companies. By tying their payment system to your bank account they avoid the 1-2% credit card fees. Plus they want the customer personal information. But I agree that they don’t seem concerned about improving their customers’ experiences.
It’s not just Apple Pay. It’s Google Wallet also. Basically these folks want CurrentC to be the only mobile wallet they use. Which I get in a way because they have loyalty cards etc also.
But with questions about how secure their cloud is and whether info will be shared with other partners many folks won’t use it. And turning off NFC means denying them added security. How bad will it look if there is another Target or Home Depot incident. And after oct 2015 these companies will have to eat the costs of any card fraud because they weren’t using NFC when they have compatible terminals
On several boards you can find many folks that are just going to stop shopping at places that have pulled this move. And not just iPhone users. Many are Google Wallet users.
I agree with this, to a degree. I would say go up to a manager to ask how to send feedback to corporate. But rubbing the nose of some low level manager into the mess is a bit like punishing the cat cause your dog pooped in your fav shoes
Your sarcasm would go over better if the original comment implied Apple is to blame for this.
I rather agree in a way. I should be allowed to use Google wallet or Apple pay if I like. And I wish someone in government would ask the question of legality
Not really sense we can use a regular card or generally go somewhere else
Which is why it isn’t likely there and won’t be. Apple doesn’t have to touch the issue of it being Apple Pay competition
The sarcasm referred to the inept response by the DOJ over the book publishing fiasco instigated by Amazon, the actual monopolist.
I agree with the original comment, though I think market forces will act much quicker than the DOJ could in this situation. It won’t be long until iPhone 6’s and up are in the majority of shoppers hands…
MCX days are almost over… There’s something brewing and the Ipad air 2 will soon make those MCX NFC readers obsolete.. I give it 6 to 8 months from now. Apple’s solution will benefit all NFC enabled phone not just apple. I’ll be expecting your comments in 6 to 8 months time.. maybe sooner 🙂
This is the very definition of shortsighted. Think of this scenario. What if Lowe’s took credit cards and Home Depot took cash only. In most towns these two stores are either right next to each other or within similar driving distance from our homes. How many more customers would Lowe’s have? I would not shop at Home Depot because that is an inconvenience for me to get cash before coming to the store. And also, what if I got $100 but ended up picking up $150 worth of items. I would have to put back $50 worth of items before leaving. All of a sudden that credit card fee looks small compared to all of the lost sales.
This is what is going to happen to these stores that try to use CurrentC vs. credit cards or Apple Pay. When you make things less convenient for your customer they will spend less in your store, either by not coming at all or by coming less.
I know this is anecdotal but since Apple Pay went active on Monday I have made four trips to Walgreens and zero trips to CVS. They are not that far apart but I usually have to drive past the CVS to get to Walgreens. This will not take long to add up.
Don’t shoot the messenger, go directly to the store manager and provide feedback about the COMAPANY’S policy. Those cashiers are just simply complying to what the company believes is in their best interest. I always use the store name and type my dissent in BOLD, sharpie if i have one and RED in color. To express my point.
Collusion between competitors is apparently okay if they are retailers trying to snuff out a service provider (e.g.: banks, credit cards, Apple Pay). It is apparently not okay when it is publishers trying to block a monopolistic entity from abusing their market position in eBooks.
I can’t wait until Apple and Google decide to pull the CurrentC beta app from the App Store and Google Play, respectively. Yesterday, the freely-downloadable (but invite-only for login) CurrentC app on the App Store had 3 reviews and 2.5 stars. Today it has 410 reviews and 1-star average with over four hundred 1-star ratings. I encourage everybody to download the CurrentC app and leave a 1-star review while you can (i.e.: before Apple pulls the app from the App Store).
I am not sure what kind of leverage these CurrentC guys think they have. Banks simply need to come up with a mechanism to charge any entity issuing ACH transactions a transaction fee if they request more than a certain amount in any given month and Apple and Google simply need to deny the CurrentC app from their application stores. It is like watching a little league team trying to play hardball with the New York Yankees.
The worst thing about CurrentC is that if somebody gets your PIN and hacks your CurrentC account then they can make fraudulent charges at any participating retailer with YOU being liable for the purchase. Nothing is free — including protection from fraud. Retailers don’t want to pay transaction fees to Visa or Mastercard, but they aren’t offering you any fraud protection and the technology for using QR codes sucks. That doesn’t even consider the fact that these competing stores would be colluding to share marketing data about your purchases.
Since
This was funny when the industry ganged up on Google TV a few years back. 🙂 Hehe…(I can’t help bring these up, it’s funny). lol
Seriously though, it sucks no matter who this happens to. I hate it when Apple does it or when it happens to them because we, the consumer, loses.
No they won’t. Those people aren’t Apple loyalists to the point of ignoring the item they want for the sake of bettering Apple’s position. They’ll simply pull out their card and pay for the item.
John. This is much the same as when NBC Universal pulled their shows and artists from iTunes. That lasted about 9 months to a year before they came back.
If the process actually works the way it is described, I can’t imagine many people will want to give their local drug store access to their Checking Account and Health data just to buy a pack of cigarettes.
I don’t think so. It doesn’t even come close.
NBC shut off a source of customers completely. These retailers were making millions before Apple Pay and will continue without it.
iTunes has loyalists who will only buy from iTunes. Apple Pay…not so much.
The thing is that Google Wallet came out with a similar processes and nobody cared.
This cartel (MCX) is pulling a perfectly working and convenient system because they are trying to create their own method of paying for it.
Apple pay is such an open system that it worked with NFC terminals that didn’t even think that they were able to use the system.
Either way, if you pull a convenient method of paying for stuff in your stores because of “contractual obligations” the customer loses.
No, no. That other garbage is a non-starter. I test a lot of apps and am pretty liberal w/ my information but this app will NEVER touch my device.
I mean they’ll simply use their credit card when they want to buy Item X from one of these non-Apple Pay retailers.
The point being is that the system worked with NFC readers that didn’t even advertise themselves as such.
This led to the contractual shutting down of the NFC part of the terminals.
Everyone loses, but I don’t see the MCX alliance members sticking with their solution. They will return to Apple Pay.
Apple is simply another beast. When they enter a market, the market and those customers/people interested in it take notice. Apple turns nearly everything they do to gold so yeah…Apple makes people care where Google can’t in so many broad areas.
MCX isn’t trying to create, they created. They’re simply enforcing it; as noted, so has Apple on many occasion.
Yep…we lose in these fights, always.
I believe they will too but I doubt it’ll be because of Apple Pay. People won’t demand it since they have an alternative in their wallet.
I use Google Wallet with great success but when I see a non-NFC terminal I don’t leave my stuff at the register and highly doubt anyone would.
A competitor with a huge success story will trigger a return to NFC. Take CSV v Walgreens. If Walgreens comes out w/ a statement of X000% increase (random, high # here), CVS will feel pressure to join the ranks to stop Walgreens from taking over.
“MCX isn’t trying to create, they created. They’re simply enforcing it; as noted, so has Apple on many occasion.”
There is no shipping product. You cannot use the system currently and it isn’t launching until next year.
My fault. Thanks for correcting me. I misunderstood the first reference I skimmed before. I saw the app screenshot so thought it was released.
Man…2, almost 3 years and still no released app!?!? Their devs are on a free ride. 🙂
Will not shop at any retailer who doesn’t allow competing technologies to be used. Period.
It’ll be pretty tough to install apps on the App Store with this mindset. #justsaying
that use of hashtags is stupid.
intentional
That’s the target, not the source. I can use a prepaid card or a credit card. That’s kind of intentionally stupid, John. 🙂
Pretty shortsighted here Steven. I’ll explain for clarity though.
Apple blocks EVERY competitor from selling on their app store forcing you to give Apple your credit card information and the app developer to give Apple 30%.
^ That’s just as bad as CVS/etc doing what they’re doing. (save the “experience” arguments for another thread because it isn’t always the best going through Apple)
So, Terry refuses to use a retailer who blocks competing technologies. Either he’s being a sensationalist for the sake of this blog or he’s legit and will not use Apple since that’s what they do.
Which revision of Google TV had something to offer? I completely missed it.
All of them. You may not have given it a shot but Google TV blew Apple TV out of the water (that’s for another argument).
Either way, it was blocked by a ton of networks right after release. I’m merely saying it is very reminiscent of that event yet the vitriol here is hilariously on the side of “Apple is being wronged” now where then it was all fun and games ’round these parts ’cause mean ol’ Google got the ban hammer. 😉
As a quick refresher to the severity: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/11/22/google-tv-viacom.
Bullshit, John. You can buy an iTunes card at a Walmart, a Safeway, Costco, or pretty much anywhere else… including online. And it’s good only for iTunes.
Wow man…you’re simply not getting it. I’ll try this one more time for you man.
I can go on and on. So, again, I fully expect Terry to not use this anti-competitive provider: Apple.
(hint: it has jack to do with being able to buy gift cards vs using your credit card)
And I’ll try again: iTunes is not a payment system. iTunes is a store.
Apple Pay is a payment system.
There is a difference, and it is not subtle.
Sigh. You’re either purposefully being obtuse or I’m doing a terrible job explaining.
Apps are blocked from the the App Store if they have other payment systems in them. Apple requires the use of their payment system.
^ Same thing as MCX retailers blocking Apple Pay.
(even bigger) Sigh. So…if he’s going to apply his passion, I hope he applies it to Apple since they’re, literally and to this day, doing the exact same thing.
I think maybe you have just misunderstood me. We have no disagreement on facts here. I think Walmart, etc. has every right to block Apple Pay. I just think it’s going to backfire on them hugely, because Apple Pay is going to succeed in the months it takes CurrenC to finish getting ready to bomb.
Nah, I understood you.
It will definitely have success while they’re finishing their work. That I don’t doubt.
I was merely pointing out the hypocrisy in Terry’s comment.