The Have and Have Nots of Apple Pay

Is It Time to Cut Bait on Banks Excluded from Apple Pay?
Excerpt:

Current Apple Pay entities are American Express, Bank of America, Barclaycard, Capital One, J.P. Morgan and Chase, Citi, M&T Bank, BofA's Merrill Lynch, Navy Federal Credit Union, PNC, Regions Bank, US Bank, BofA's US Trust, USAA and Wells Fargo. The books are not closed on Apple Pay. Apple itself has said it has 500 institutions in its queue. Some will come aboard in 2014, probably in the next four weeks, several sources said. But those sources -- executives in credit card processors who are working to get customers enrolled -- have controlled optimism. Some figure just a few dozen will be added before the year closes.

... roughly 12,500 institutions are excluded from Apple Pay. Such institutions may be in trouble. Chris Stulpin, a senior vice president at Pennsylvania-based Capital Markets Group, wrote in a recent research report, "Apple Inc. has potentially handed a major competitive advantage to the largest U.S. banks at the expense of their smaller counterparts.”

Comment: Image capture from CapitalOne360 website

Why CurrentC Is Like The Three Stooges

CurrentC And The Big Merchant Mess

Excerpt:

Whoever said there’s no such thing as bad PR obviously wasn’t on the receiving end of the whooping that Rite Aid, CVS and CurrentC took last week over their decision to turn off support for Apple Pay in their stores. It’s unlikely that anyone thinks that the coverage last week had even the tiniest glimmer of goodness associated with it for any of those guys. Wait, I take that back. It did actually popularize the new CurrentC brand name. Everyone now knows that CurrentC is the name of the mobile payments scheme that won’t let consumers use Apple Pay at their favorite retailers. Unfortunately, for CurrentC, this is also the story that just won’t die, and in fact is now riding a fever pitch. If anything, the invite-only press briefing mid-week only made matters worse for them as contradictions and vagaries were in abundance. And, that only caused the media, now totally dialed into this story, to dig in even more. In particular, the claim made by CurrentC’s CEO that its merchants can do what they want, at the same time they are bound contractually and exclusively to CurrentC’s in-store mobile payments scheme was only slightly more hilarious than the tease that it might include general purpose payments cards in its wallet one day

Why The USA Today Says CurrentC Is Like The Three Stooges

Excerpt:

USA Today has weighed in on the Apple Pay MCX CurrentC issue and is not pulling any punches. MCX seems to be what would have happened had “the Three Stooges had been given the assignment of introducing a new and safer way for consumers to pay at some of the biggest retail stores.” For those who don’t know, the Three Stooges was a popular American comedy team popular from the 1930s through the 1960s and were essentially known for broad slapstick, including poking people in the eyes and lots of violence. In short, the comparison is not likely to be seen by MCX backers as a compliment. (Then again, it could also offend some hardcore Three Stooges fan, so it works for many things.) The argument that USA Today made is that Apple Pay has been well received, is easier to use than CurrentC and is likely more secure. But the column is not solely arguing that CurrentC will not do well. It is arguing that it CurrentC will never even launch. “The odds that you’ll ever see CurrentC rolled out nationally are slim to none,” penned columnist Jefferson Graham. The fact that MCX has already been attacked by cyberthieves—who grabbed data from E-mail—gave the columnist his strongest talking point. “The new iPhones have built-in NFC (near field communication) chips that talk directly to pinpads near the cash register. Put your credit card information into the Passbook app on the iPhone for Apple Pay. Wave the phone at the pinpad, and secure the transaction with your fingerprint from Apple’s TouchID. CurrentC doesn’t work with credit cards. You heard me. This mobile payment system connects your checking account, and MCX says the advantage is it can add in coupons and loyalty information from the retailers,” the column said. “But those free airline miles that millions of consumers have come to love from their credit cards, which encourage them to make big purchases? Nah, not at our store. Instead of fingerprint technology, CurrentC uses the clunky QR code system, an idea whose time has yet to come. To register, you have to give MCX your social security number and banking information. And, the system has already been hacked. Would you trust these folks with your info?”

Comment: See CurrentC Is The Big Retailers’ Clunky Attempt To Kill Apple Pay And Credit Card Fees and Analysis: Retail's answer to Apple Pay probably doomed.I shopped for the CurrentC app for my IPhone and the reviews were terrible. 

Apple Pay - The Way Forward for Secure and Easy Payments

Apple Pay Review: Easy to Use, but Still Hard to Find

Excerpt:

To set up Apple Pay on an iPhone 6, tap the plus sign in the included Passbook app. You only have to do this once: The app will prompt you to add one of your existing credit cards by typing in its digits or snapping a photo. Apple Pay works with most existing major credit and debit cards, which you can add to your phone in a matter of minutes. The exceptions are cards from some smaller banks, store-branded cards and corporate cards. At the store, look for an Apple Pay logo, or more likely the universal contactless payment logo—a sideways Wi-Fi symbol with a hand approaching it. Once you’re rung up, hold your iPhone near the credit-card terminal. You don’t have to tap or swipe—the connection happens over a wireless system called near-field communication, or NFC. When your iPhone gets close enough, an image of your credit cards appears on its screen, even if the phone is asleep or you’re playing “ Candy Crush Saga . ” If you’re ready to pay, lightly put your finger on the Touch ID sensor to approve it. If you want to pick a card other than your designated default card, just tap one, then do the finger scan. Nobody else’s finger will work unless you’ve registered that person’s print on your phone. (I tried.) At most stores, that’s it—you’re done. A few might ask you to sign a receipt or punch in your debit card’s PIN. In my tests, only one sales clerk got confused, and we figured it out together. Contrast that with an experience I had earlier this year with the competing PayPal app while heading to lunch with colleagues. PayPal had hired people to stand in front of the restaurant, telling people they’d get $5 off if they paid with its app. But doing that required downloading the app, remembering your PayPal password, finding the restaurant in the app then tapping to pay there. Most of my friends decided they’d rather forgo $5 than pay by phone. Google Wallet and Softcard, a joint effort of AT&T , T-Mobile and Verizon that work on some NFC-equipped Android phones, aren’t much better. Both require you to unlock your phone and type a code into an app. That¹s too many steps to be convenient.

How to Try Apple Pay Today—and Where to Use It 

Comments: I don't shop enough to need it. I'm sure that my next IPhone will be an Apple Pay enabled devices - but that is several years away.