Just when NFC-facilitated services such as Apple Pay started replacing credit cards, big retailers including Walmart decided they want QR scanning technology such as CurrentC. CurrentC, a project spearheaded by Walmart, operates by scanning QR codes using smartphones.
CurrentC can also automatically handle loyalty points, discounts, and work with a variety of other payment methods, but without disclosing credentials or card numbers.
Apple Pay just launched in the U.S. last week, and organizations such as CVS and the Rite-Aid drug store chain have disabled it already.
According to Josh Constine from TechCrunch:
Retailers including CVS and Rite-Aid were planned partners for CurrentC. Now those businesses have pulled unofficial support for Apple Pay through their existing NFC readers, according to a report from MacRumors and a memo obtained by SlashGear. This implies they’ve established exclusive deals with MCX to use CurrentC as their mobile payment option.
He also said that Walmart has been hoping to escape the 2%-3% credit card fees which eat into their profit margins.
Is It A Good Idea To Block Apple Pay? Or Are The Days Of Multiple Payment Options Coming To An End?
It appears as if there are more payment systems today than I have seen in my lifetime, but unfortunately, they are not optional. For example: If I want to purchase something from Amazon or Google, they require either a credit card or their own payment services such as Amazon Payments or Google Wallet.
It is perfectly fine for companies to create, implement, and promote their own payment services, but with so many stores trying to do this, I can’t help but imagine how ugly things will get in the near future because stores are trying to phase out credit cards.
I don’t like credit cards, however, they are the one standard form of payment accepted by virtually all online stores, and therefore can only be replaced by another standard, widespread payment method.
Main source: TechCrunch.
