Apple Pay chipping away at Walmart backed CurrentC


Jacob Davidson for TIME:

Unfortunately for Walmart, it wasn't the only one trying to revolutionize how consumers pay for goods. When Apple blew the doors off the mobile payment world last October with the release of Apple Pay, MCX's payment app, known as CurrentC, was still deep in the testing phase. Worst of all for Walmart and friends, Apple was partnering with the very credit-card payment networks they had hoped to destroy.

Biggest issue with CurrentC is the goal is to reduce transaction fees for merchants. This is compared to Apple Pay's more user-focused features of security and ease of use. Since mobile payments are going to require a significant shift in consumer behavior, usability and flexibility will likely be a major driver. CurrentC seems more cumberson with QR codes, plus, since the goal is to circumvent the credit card companies, CurrentC seems geared to ACH transfers rather than credit card charges.