Apple Pay competitor CurrentC may not launch until 2016

currentc

CurrentC, the mobile payments app back by a consortium of major retailers known as MCX, may not launch until 2016, Recode reports. The outlet spoke with MCX CEO Brian Mooney yesterday, and he says that the app may not be ready to go this year like originally planned.

A public pilot of the app will go live in Ohio next month, and Mooney says that MCX won’t push for a wider rollout if it’s not ready. “This is a long game,” he said said. “Certainly going faster is always better — that’s not necessarily a debatable point. But we’re going to do it right.”

MCX and CurrentC garnered a lot of media attention last fall, when two of its retail members—Rite Aid and CVS—stopped accepting payments via the newly-launched Apple Pay. It has since suffered through multiple PR blunders, including a hacking and surprise CEO replacement.

The only positive thing CurrentC had going for it was the exclusivity agreement that Walmart and other members had signed, banning them from using other payment apps. But that exclusivity expires this month, and MCX retailers have already begun announcing Apple Pay support.

So you’d think at this point, MCX would just throw in the towel on the whole CurrentC project. Don’t be so sure. Because the app doesn’t allow payments via credit cards, it has the potential to save retailers millions of dollars in transaction fees. That’s too good to walk away from.

Source: Recode