Why CurrentC Will Beat Out Apple Pay

itwbennett writes Working closely with VISA, Apple solved many complex security issues making in-person payments safer than ever. But it's that close relationship with the credit card companies that may be Apple Pay's downfall. A competing solution called CurrentC has recently gained a lot of press as backers of the project moved to block NFC payments (Apple Pay, Google Wallet, etc.) at their retail terminals. The merchants designing or backing CurrentC reads like a greatest hits list of retail outfits and leading the way is the biggest of them all, Walmart. The retailers have joined together to create a platform that is independent of the credit card companies and their profit-robbing transaction fees. Hooking directly to your bank account rather than a credit or debit card, CurrentC will use good old ACH to transfer money from your account to the merchant's bank account at little to no cost.

Comments

Not a chance

[ThomasBHardy]

I wont be giving away access to my bank accounts. Sorry, not gonna happen.

And the next time they have a data breach?

That's just full of "Nope!"

Re: Not a chance

[Gr8Apes]

Not only that, CC's aren't tied to your bank account, so your account(s) cannot be emptied. CC's have legal liability limits, and thus fraud or disputes do not directly affect your ability to pay say, your rent.

Re:Not a chance

[AK Marc]

The first wave of proposed chip+PIN cards in the US was slated to have magstripes as a fallback mechanism. The agreement between the retailer and the credit network would have placed all liability for fraudulent or reversed transactions on the party using outdated tech. Merchants did not like this,

That's the system today, so I don't see why the merchants would be so upset.

CurrentC is "wanted" because it pushes all liability onto the user, with none on the retailer or credit network (partly because there is no "credit network" in the CurrentC system). All systems with a credit network know that if they screw the user, the user will flee. So all the credit networks push as much risk as possible on the merchant, and accept the rest. $50 is the maximum on the user, and nearly all limit that to $0, so long as the user acts reasonably.

CurrentC does not solve for the Customer

[jeffy210]

Looking through CurrentC it does everything for Merchants, and nothing for customers.

- Requires to be tied to checking account or debit card
- Customer assumes 100% of liability for fraud (?!)
- Retailer can gather all purchase data on a customer
- Requires multistep actions including scanning QR codes

What benefit is in there for the customer? You know people are going to freak out around the liability part. I know the retailers want to reduce their transaction fee, but unless they throw some level of enticement (such as a discount) you probably won't see adoption of this. Conversely a discount will just nullify the transaction fee. I'm of the belief CurrentC is DOA.

Re:CurrentC does not solve for the Customer

[Anubis IV]

In addition to everything you said, there are the following reasons it's customer-hostile as well:

- CurrentC requires providing your Social Security Number and driver's license number
- CurrentC app collects any health data it can find on your phone
- CurrentC app tracks your location
- CurrentC stores all customer information in the cloud, rather than on the device
- CurrentC must be requested specifically by the customer, rather than being immediately available at checkout
- CurrentC's checkout varies between locations (between you and the cashier, it can vary who has the QR code and who does the scanning)

I'm with you: it's DOA. Moreover, it's downright creepy. The only incentive to use it would be if they offered a discount, but that would cut into the whole point of moving over to ACH from credit anyway, as you pointed out. Moreover, in many states it may be illegal to offer a discount, since there are laws forcing prices to remain the same, regardless of transaction method. They're phrased differently from state to state, so there may be ways around most of them, but it'd be one more hurdle in their way.

Why CurrentC will fail miserably

[taustin]

1. One of the terms of service is exclusivity - if you use CurrentC, you can't use any other kind of mobile wallet system.

2. It is more like a debit card than a credit card - the money comes directly out of your bank account.

3. As such, it has none of the legal protections that a credit card has. With a debit card, pretty much all banks offer the same protection on debit cards anyway, because it's good for their business. CurrentC won't be run by banks, it will be run by some of the largest retailers in the country - Walmart, etc. None of the political pressures that keep banks on the straight and narrow apply.

4. CurrentC requires - cannot possibly work without - that you give the retailer all the information needed to take as much money as they choose directly from your bank account. These are the same retailers who have had hundreds of millions of credit card numbers stolen from their servers in the last couple of years. They have proven, conclusively, that they cannot be trusted.

5. CurrentC is about more than just transaction fees. It is also about turning the customer into a product - they require a lot of personal information that is completely irrelevant to the transaction - like health information (which they are also incapable of protecting) - to set up the account.

6. CurrentC is based on QR Codes, which is just stupid.

I'll go back to carrying cash before I use a mess like that. Or barter. Or growing my own food on a mountain top somewhere.