Archived Mobile Payments

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commiecorvus said:
It kind of figures that Spot would go with payment system that will be the Betamax in the competition.
I'm betting that by 1016 there will be 2 maybe 3 methods used by most stores.
There was a time when it would have taken longer for things to shake out but nowadays things move pretty fast.
Apple is probably going to be one of them.
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Well by January every store in America has to have at least 2 methods of paying: magnet stripe, and chip and pin/chip and signature. So by 2016 I can imagine most major retailers bringing in NFC payments, also there's a touchscreen credit card, as well as a fingerprint credit card debuting next year, so we'll see how well those take off as well!
 
I read an article about a bunch of retailers involved with currentc disabling nfc payments in their stores JUST to block apple pay. Apple takes a percentage of the processing fee that stores have to pay. Currentc does an afc withdrawal (like the redcard check card) so the retailers don't have to pay any fees. Nfc payments have worked with the nfc enabled credit cards (pay pass) and Google wallet for years, but when Apple got involved, they got scared of the potential mass adoption. Makes no sense. They're paying the fees when the people swipe those same cards that they're adding to their phones.
 
neversaynever said:
I hope the Target people are reading the thread on MacRumors about the RiteAid NFC payment fiasco..... It's entertaining, and enlightening in ways they probably can't grasp. But it is the tech people making their case.

Security in CurrentC is a worry, as is tracking.

They really need to put the prepaid RedCard from the other thread into ApplePay. Then they can have their cake while everyone gets to eat it and maintain their privacy.
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The whole point of selling redcards is to track purchases and invade the privacy of guests. That way spot can market to them better.
 
I doubt that's the only point. Target probably doesn't pay processing fees when people shop with target's cards. Macy's used to tout this as one of the reasons we should be pushing the star rewards, so I assume it's the same for all store cards. I think that's how they're able to give "5% off." All the product prices are probably adjusted to cover the fees they pay to process everyone else's cards. Then having that 5% "savings" tricks people into spending more.

I'm sure they track purchases when you use non target cards as well. That whole return things with just your card says "we know what you bought last summer" to me. And my coupons seem to be based on past purchases even when I'm not using the redcard.
 
sher said:
I doubt that's the only point. Target probably doesn't pay processing fees when people shop with target's cards. Macy's used to tout this as one of the reasons we should be pushing the star rewards, so I assume it's the same for all store cards. I think that's how they're able to give "5% off." All the product prices are probably adjusted to cover the fees they pay to process everyone else's cards. Then having that 5% "savings" tricks people into spending more.

I'm sure they track purchases when you use non target cards as well. That whole return things with just your card says "we know what you bought last summer" to me. And my coupons seem to be based on past purchases even when I'm not using the redcard.
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They can get a lot more demographic information that they can use for marketing when you sign up for a redcard vs some random credit card number. They have all the info off the back of an ID to use. They also collect information when you do online orders, fill out surveys, call guest services, etc.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmir...teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/

I doubt that interchange fees are as extreme as people think they are. Small mom and pop shops that can't negotiate rates obviously get shafted with 3% or more but large corporations like Target and Walmart can negotiate with the card processors to get lower rates. I doubt Target pays much more than 1% on card transactions.
 
Yea, I've seen that thing about the pregnant girl (assuming the url refers to that... I don't remember it saying she had a redcard, though so unsure how it's relevant), and I knew the demo stuff because obvi they know who signs up for a redcard. You're still not getting some great privacy just by not using a redcard. If they didn't think fees were a big deal, all those retailers wouldn't have come together to create currentc using ach JUST to avoid the fees. And many of those retailers wouldn't be blocking Apple pay if they thought "oh this one percent isn't a big deal. Let's just eat these fees, bruh."

http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/25/7069863/retailers-are-disabling-nfc-readers-to-shut-out-apple-pay

Also, I only said that I thought that was part of why they push the cards. I agreed that the tracking thing was part of it when I said I didn't think it was the *only* point. I maybe didn't make it clear, but when I said the thing about tracking other card purchases, I didn't mean that tracking was to the same extent that they can track redcard users. I think the big retailers are greedy enough to fight for every fraction of a penny, too. I mean 1% of a billion is 10 mil.

Tldr I'm just making hypotheses and speculations, because I have no life. Carry on.
 
That link is an interesting read. It goes more in depth than the address implies
 
Merchants don't pay the Apple 0.15%, the banks pay it out of their cut under the assumption of lower fraud rates because of the security in ApplePay.

I'm really getting tired of the breeches and such. It's time for status quo to change, and chip and pin/sig will help, but it isn't 100% secure either. Ugh.
 
I didn't mean to imply that merchants paid it. My b.

Security of credit cards never scares me. Every time anything ever went down with my bank card or cc, I didn't have to pay it. And Any thief would end up being denied because I disabled overdraft protections and such. Nothing gets accepted if the money isn't there anymore.
 
So the reviews for the CurrentC app on the iOS store.... Quite funny.

I'm not sure MCX is going to be able to dig out of this bad PR nightmare that Rite Aid and CVS turning off NFC is going to be this coming week.

Note, these are mostly the same people saying no to red cards, and for the same reasons.
 
The play store has bad reviews too. One guy defended it saying qr is revolutionary because a lot of phones lack nfc. Most android flagships have it, but budget phones don't and iPhone 5s and earlier don't of course. Also, some carriers block Google wallet. I don't remember whether NFC is in windows phone.

Currentc sounds awful though. ACH is hella slow. My mom pays at Dunkin with their qr code app, but the currentc thing sounds slower from that techcrunch article. Sounds like more steps and more interaction is necessary throughout the transaction with currentc.
 
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sher said:
The play store has bad reviews too. One guy defended it saying qr is revolutionary because a lot of phones lack nfc. Most android flagships have it, but budget phones don't and iPhone 5s and earlier don't of course. Also, some carriers block Google wallet. I don't remember whether NFC is in windows phone.

Currentc sounds awful though. ACH is hella slow. My mom pays at Dunkin with their qr code app, but the currentc thing sounds slower from that techcrunch article. Sounds like more steps and more interaction is necessary throughout the transaction with currentc.
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The way it worked for me was pretty simple: scan the guest's phone, they tap to confirm it, and it spends the next few seconds processing. I agree that some of the scenarios are a little ridiculous, why would it make you scan the cashier's screen with your phone? It should always just be simple, the cashier quickly scanning a QR code on someone's phone, then they tap to confirm it for security. I agree NFC payments would be better, and the only reason we aren't implementing them is because of credit card processing fees.

The whole slow ACH thing is just for political reasons, banks make a lot of money off wire transfers so a quick ACH system would cut into that business. We could have same day ACH. We don't because our government is spineless and won't force the federal reserve to speed up the system or provide adequate protections for consumers using it.
 
Things could be different if CurrentC was everywhere NOW. but it isn't.

So it's like wait for our system next year, and meanwhile hope we aren't hacked.

Meanwhile, this is a PR bad dream for them, and free good PR for Apple Pay, Google Wallet and NFC in General.

I'm eating popcorn watching it play put this week!
 
Oh fun....

Customers at stores that are part of CurrentC have no idea how their lives are going to change into one big sales push. Cashiers at those stores don't have a clue about how bad it will be for them. I feel sorry for both ends. Publix's tag line of, "where shopping is a pleasure", well just you wait until there is a 5 CurrentC signs ups a day thrown in there......
 
The problem I have with CurrentC is security. It was hacked a few months ago. These new NFC payments lately are a lot more secure.
 
Until Target accepts Apple pay, I'll be using Gyft. I get paid in Bitcoin at my full time job, and Gyft accepts btc. I buy Target gift cards with Gyft, and use them on my iPhone when I check out. Never going to sign up for a Red Card. Horrible things they are. Best of all, no wallet required.
 
I have a couple friends and family that work for Spot in Columbus Ohio. Apparently that metro area is piloting the CurrentC right now before it goes company wide soon. I think it's a TM only thing right now though. I'll see if I can get more details.
 
I don't think BTC will ever be really mainstream. I think it will become moderately popular, but never popular enough to be part of the currency conversation.
 
I never thought I'd have an interest in nfc payments, because it didn't seem like it would really save much time, but one day I stopped at McDonald's on the way to work and didn't feel like taking my backpack off to get my wallet out so I paid with my phone with Google wallet. It was pretty dope. But I have 0 interest in currentc for the same reason I don't like using my redcard. Ach payments are slow.
 
Kind of on topic here, but we were informed at my store that Chip and Pin will be active starting June? It seems to be that they've uncovered the majority of the slots but I'm not sure if they work as no one has attempted.
 
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