TargetPay is Here - Wallet

Following years of investment in mobile wallet through the now sold off MCX and the CurrentC mobile payments solution, and well after Walmart enacted its Walmart Pay solution Target has theirs in place. They call it simple "Wallet".

This is the beginning of furthering a huge divide between the top of the Tier 1 retailers and everyone else.  We may need to create a new designation like "Super Power" when mere "Major Power" was no longer enough.

The biggest merchants will have a strong physical presence, eCommerce presence, vertically integrated merchandising, strong mobile, and strong mobile wallet capability. Think Amazon and Walmart.  Now Target.

Everyone else?  Well, this speaks to the huge need for a white label solution for all of those merchants not big enough to handle all of this on their own.

Anyone?

Here is the story:

http://www.businessinsider.com/targets-mobile-wallet-is-finally-here-2017-12

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Target launched its long-anticipated mobile wallet for in-store payments on Monday, according to TechCrunch. The product, which will be barcode-based and housed in the existing Target mobile app, is known as Wallet. Two key features distinguish Wallet and could help optimize it for use:

The wallet is only available to store cardholders.

...

That’s especially true because it expands upon existing app functionality.

...

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Chase Acquires MCX

Bye, bye MCX.

After the Chase deal to purchase the tech resources of MCX in mid-March it should come as no surprise MCX is, realistically, closing its doors.

Here is the news:

http://www.csnews.com/industry-news-and-trends/technology/chase-acquires-mobile-payment-consortium-mcx

Quick blurb:

JP Morgan Chase is acquiring mobile payment consortium Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), agreeing to absorb the company's resources into Chase Pay.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Chase Acquires MCX Mobile Payments Tech for ChasePay

A bit of news in the retail mobile payments space hit recently.  This is not an unexpected move given the events of the last 2 years.

Read more:

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/Chase_s-Technology-Deal-With-MCX-Is-Likely-to-Boost-Chase-Pay-As-CurrentC-Declines

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Mobile Wallets to Consolidate

Right now, with the failed launch of CurrentC by MCX, retailers are rushing to roll out their own mobile wallet within their store brand app.  Baskin Robbins just launched, as a part of Dunkin Brands.  Walmart has Walmart Pay in its app, etc.

Eventually a more consolidated approach will take hold.  I have no doubt of this, though I believe some retailers such as Starbucks will be able to hold on to their direct relationship with their customers.

Other experts see the same thing coming.  Here is a snippet :

Mobile wallets are slowly gaining adoption, but retailers’ offerings are currently the winners because they can be easily integrated with loyalty programs, providing an incentive to use them.

Many experts believe that mobile wallets will continue to grow, and by the end of the decade, be universally adopted. Retailers such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks are leading the charge in terms of brand-led mobile wallets and are seeing significant adoption rates while platform-led services such as Apple Pay and Android Pay mobile wallets are lacking in comparison, but will likely see more users in the coming years.

Read the whole story here:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/mobile-wallets-to-see-universal-adoption-by-end-of-decade

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

CurrentC App Shutting Down June 28

What is the CurrentC app?

Yeap.

You aren't the only one asking as this thing didn't get off the ground anyplace but Columbus, OH.

Read more:

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/Following-Its-Decision-to-Put-off-a-Rollout_-MCX-to-Shut-Down-Its-CurrentC-Pilot-on-June-28

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

MCX's CurrentC Delayed Indefinitely and ChasePay Delayed

Mobile payments news.

After months of silence, with no major news this year until now, MCX has made some news.  Their mobile wallet capability, live now in Columbus, OH, will not be rolled out nationally any time soon.

Read more:

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/After-Eight-Months-of-Testing_-MCX-Postpones-CurrentC-Rollout_-Lays-off-30-Staffers

Here is a snippet from the piece:

After eight months of experimentation in Columbus, Ohio, Merchant Customer Exchange LLC on Monday issued a statement from chief executive Brian Mooney announcing it is putting off a national rollout of its CurrentC mobile-payments service to an unspecified date. Mooney added that the Boston-based company, formed in 2012 by many of the country’s biggest retailers, also has laid off 30 staffers in light of a need for “fewer resources.”

In other, somewhat related news, ChasePay is delayed:

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/Chase-Pay-Delays-Launch-to-Fourth-Quarter_-Amazon-And-Google-Talk-Technology

Here is a snippet from the piece:

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Chase Pay mobile-payment service, announced in October, will have a phased-in launch in the fourth quarter, according to Kim Fitzsimmons, head of global e-commerce and large omnichannel solutions at Chase Commerce Solutions.

Looks like MCX wants to get out of the mobile app business and act as a switch between retailers and financial institutions.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Walmart Pay now In-App

This is rolling out slowly around Walmart and is now in their app as of late April.

Read the quick story here:

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/6055

Here is a snippet from the piece:

The app update, available on the iTunes store, says Walmart Pay will be “available in all stores soon,” without being more specific. Since the mobile wallet’s introduction in December, acceptance has been limited. Currently, more than 100 stores in northwest Arkansas, Kansas City, and other areas of Missouri are accepting Walmart Pay, according to a Wal-Mart spokesperson. Chainwide acceptance will be complete "this summer," she adds.

Meanwhile, what is MCX doing with Currentc?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Merchant Mobile Payments Leading the Way

This is not surprising to those of us who follow mobile.  We haven't seen game-changing success by tech companies looking to reinvent the way people pay, but we have seen success by individual merchants.

Read on:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/merchants-digital-wallets-leading-the-migration-to-mobile-payments-report

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Merchants are having a bigger impact on shoppers’ payments behaviors and encouraging the transition to mobile compared to universal wallets such as Apple Pay, according to a new report from Mercator Advisory Group.

A growing number of merchants are offering their own branded mobile wallets and incentivizing the use of them through offers and loyalty, something universal wallets have not taken advantage of as much. As a result, merchants are better positioned to change customer behavior and become preferred payment options, according to the report, Merchant Mobile Wallets: Mobile Payments in Action.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Mobile Wallets at POS and Apple Pay

Business Insider has a great little article detailing some data from a new report on retailers and their mobile wallets.

Just to list a few for those who aren't keeping up, mobile wallets include but are not limited to: Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, PayPal, CurrentC by MCX, Walmart Pay and more.

Read on:

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-pay-leads-samsung-pay-android-pay-google-wallet-2016-3

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Apple Pay has a comfortable lead in the mobile wallets market.

A new report from Piper Jaffray cited by Investors Business Daily reveals that retailers largely prefer Apple Pay over its major competitors Samsung Pay, Android Pay, and Google Wallet.

The report found that 44% of U.S. retailers either currently are using or have expressed interest in installing mobile wallet readers in their brick-and-mortar stores.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Wal-Mart Announces Walmart Pay for Mobile Payments

Pretty enormous news in payments, retail and mobile as Walmart announced Walmart Pay today.

Due to my previous professional involvement in MCX, a consortium of retailers including Walmart who are developing a mobile wallet solution, I am going to keep my comments to a minimum.

Here is a story on this news:

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/Despite-Observers_-Doubts_-Wal-Mart-Says-Walmart-Pay-Won_t-Weaken-Ties-to-MCX

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Starting this month, Wal-Mart will begin testing “in select stores” a service called Walmart Pay, which will be part of the Wal-Mart shopping app and will work with most Apple and Android smart phones, the company says. Customers will be able to load “major” card brands along with the Wal-Mart gift card in the wallet, which will link to point-of-sale readers via quick-response (QR) codes, according to the announcement. The full rollout to all Wal-Mart stores is expected to be complete by the middle of next year.

This sounds pretty similar to the CurrentC solution developed at MCX.  It will be very interesting to see how this develops over time.  Starbucks and Dunkin' Brands use a similar style solution while the tech companies use NFC or other hardware solutions to interact with payment terminals.

Given the very slow adoption Apple Pay is seeing, Google Wallet already went through (now Android Pay), and Samsung Pay is seeing as well it is possible these "retail first" solutions are the way this will be solved.  Just look at Starbucks.  Dunkin' Brands is seeing similar success.  Will each major retailer have to develop their own proprietary mobile payments capability?  That seems inefficient.  Will the Apple Pays of the world ever take off?  Will a "white label" style solution like CurrentC at MCX be the one?

This seems to be a very long slog.  I was involved with this for years and I see many more years ahead.  It will be fun to follow this line though.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Mobile Payments This Holiday Season

The folks over at Mobile Commerce Daily have a bit of news worth reading.  Suffice it to say Apple Pay hasn't taken off, nor have mobile wallets in general.

Read on:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/credit-cards-beat-out-mobile-wallets-during-black-friday-report

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Mobile wallet platforms did not fare well during this year’s Black Friday retail frenzy, most likely due to do inconsistency with retailers and consumer use, with Apple Pay at its lowest usage rate and PayPal being used more than others, according to a report from InfoScout.

The holiday weekend is known for its chaotic shopping sprees, with many retailers seeing long lines and disorderly checkout experiences, which may have led consumers’ choice to stick with established payment methods such as credit cards. On Black Friday this year Apple Pay saw only 2.7 percent use with all eligible transactions at retail locations, and Android even lower with 2 percent of possible transactions being used.

In similar news Dunkin Brands has now incorporated Apple Pay in to its mobile wallet, much like Starbucks before it.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/dunkin-donuts-cracks-open-apple-pay-as-holiday-sales-thicken

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Chase Pay Surges Forward with CurrentC

Chase isn't messing around with mobile payments and this new alliance/engagement/whatever with MCX and the CurrentC mobile wallet solution for retailers.

Read on:

http://www.fiercefinanceit.com/story/chase-names-18-tech-partners-integrate-chase-pay-merchant-payment-platforms/2015-11-19

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Aiming for wide-scale availability of its Chase Pay mobile and digital payment system by mid-2016, Chase announced this week that it has partnered with 18 tech firms to implement the service for merchants.

Chase Pay, first announced last month, represents Chase's plan for competing in the rapidly evolving online and mobile payment space. For consumers, Chase Pay is a secure, tokenization-based payment scheme for in-store, phone, and online payments.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Walgreens Goes Loyal to Apple Pay

Walgreens is the first retailer to pull together mobile payments and their store loyalty within Apple Pay.

This is big news as mobile payments by itself is unlikely to move the needle.  Something more is needed and loyalty is a great "something".

This is exactly what retailers are doing through their own CurrentC branded mobile wallet.

Read more on Walgreens here:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/walgreens-creates-efficient-in-store-experience-with-apple-pay-rewards-integration

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Walgreens is streamlining the in-store checkout process as the first retailer to intertwine Apple Pay with its loyalty program, enabling customers to scan only once to pay and receive rewards.

Data has shown that interest in mobile payments is low, but mobile wallet services which provide rewards programs is much more desired amongst consumers. Walgreens is looking to drive sales with the Apple Pay-loyalty integration following a series of successful mobile wallet incorporations for other retailers.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Money 20/20, Chase Bank and CurrentC

All of the money is in Vegas this week as Money 20/20 roars in to 2015.  This is the big industry trade show for all things "money".

The biggest news so far is a new mobile wallet by Chase with the retail backing of MCX and the CurrentC wallet.

Here is one article on this news:

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/Chase-Unveils-Chase-Pay_-a-Mobile-Wallet-That-Will-Work-at-Merchants-Accepting-CurrentC

Here is a snippet from that piece:

JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Monday unveiled its Chase Pay mobile wallet and said the product will begin rolling out in the middle of next year. Chase also said its new wallet will be accepted at merchants belonging to the Merchant Customer Exchange LLC, a retailer-controlled consortium that has been testing its own wallet, CurrentC, in Columbus, Ohio.

CNBC had a piece on the growing criticality of mobile wallets:

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/26/the-latest-in-the-battle-to-own-your-digital-wallet.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:\

The battle to own your digital wallet is on.

2016 will be a pivotal year for mobile payments, with total transaction values jumping 210 percent, according to eMarketer. Why? Mobile wallets — like Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay and MCX — will become standard features on smartphones and more merchants will adopt point-of-sale systems that can accept mobile payments.

It makes sense then that this is a big story at Money20/20 in Las Vegas.

Here is one more article on this:

http://www.pymnts.com/news/2015/chase-pay-mobile-wallet-launches-with-mcx-as-a-partner/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** Great little analysis came out today about the recent CurrentC news:
http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/How-MCX_s-Deals-with-Chase-Pay-And-BIM-Networks-Help-Fill-a-Tender-Gap-in-CurrentC

Here is a snippet from that piece:

With two strokes of the pen, Merchant Customer Exchange LLC has addressed one glaring weakness in its mobile wallet. By announcing a deal this week with JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s brand-new Chase Pay mobile-payments service and two weeks ago with a little-known New York City-based app provider called BIM Networks Inc., MCX brought open-loop and store-branded automated clearing house payments to its fledgling CurrentC service.

Next up is the press release of the keynote by the CEO of MCX:

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151029006424/en/2015-Money2020-Keynote-Address-MCX-CEO-Brian

Happy Halloween!

CurrentC Mobile Payments by MCX in the News

News from the CEO at Merchant Customer Exchange about their ongoing public beta in Columbus, OH.

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/CurrentC-Adding-More-Major-Merchants-in-Columbus_-_Open-Loop_-Cards-To-Come

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Within a week, four more major retailers—ExxonMobil, Sears, Shell Oil, and WalMart—will join the CurrentC pilot that started last month in Columbus, Ohio. That’s according to Brian V. Mooney, a long-time processing executive who took over in April as interim chief executive of the mobile wallet’s sponsor organization, Merchant Customer Exchange LLC.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS  For the record I am no longer on the board at MCX and have no inside knowledge of any of its activities.

Heartland Wants Open-Platform Mobile Wallets

Heartland is developing a mobile wallet that is open platform.

http://www.paymentssource.com/news/retail-acquiring/open-platform-mobile-wallet-the-only-answer-heartland-carr-3022237-1.html

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Heartland is working on a mobile wallet model that would emphasize an open platform available to all merchant apps, loyalty programs and cross-merchant rewards programs...

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0225 Analysis of Samsung Pay

Best Reading of the Day

Harvard Business Review has a brief analysis of Samsung Pay, the new mobile payment capability for Samsung devices, that is worth a quick read.

https://hbr.org/2015/07/samsung-pays-older-technology-could-be-an-advantage

Here is a snippet from the piece:

The stakes are high in the mobile wallet market, projected to be over $140 billion by 2019. Most recently, Samsung has announced that it will roll out a payment system called Samsung Pay later this year and has already begun beta-testing it in Korea. Its foray into this industry comes on the heels of product entries by Google and Apple. But Samsung’s new mobile wallet strategy may be a sign that they are finally becoming a true leader and shedding their image as a fast follower. The irony is that they are embracing an older payment technology to pave the way for new growth, new visibility, and new strategic wiggle room.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0219 Apple Pay Not Catching On

Best Reading of the Day

Apple Pay

I've been reading quite a bit in the mobile payments space over the last few months.  Some stories are balanced, some are not.  This one is excellent.

http://business.financialpost.com/fp-tech-desk/it-looks-like-apple-pay-is-failing-to-catch-on-with-a-lot-of-retailers?__lsa=5687-4454

Here is a snippet from the story:

In a January earnings call with investors, Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook made a confident prediction: “2015 will be the year of Apple Pay,” he said.

Since then, the company has aggressively courted retailers – and claimed significant success. “We’ve spoken to all of the top 100 merchants in the U.S., and about half will accept Apple Pay this year, with many more the following year,” a company spokesperson recently told Reuters.

But interviews with analysts, merchants and others suggest that Apple’s forecast may be too optimistic and that many retailers remain skeptical about the payment system.

The story does a good job talking about this space in general as well as discussing Apple Pay.  Well worth the read.

What I've been telling people is Apple Pay is really two things: (1) in-app purchases and (2) in-store purchases at point of sale.  Apple Pay is doing very well in-app, but hasn't seen good adoption in-store.  This does, however, allow the good folks at Apple to merely state something to the effect of 'Apple Pay is doing very well'.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

In-Store Mobile Payments

Pretty good article over on Mobile Commerce Daily regarding mobile payments in the store:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/road-to-in-store-mobile-payments-is-bumpy-for-apple-pay-mcx

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Bringing contactless mobile payments to bricks-and-mortar stores continues to be a challenging process plagued with technology difficulties, inexperienced store associates and an evolving landscape.

Enabling in-store mobile payments at scale is viewed as a key goal but one that has proven to be elusive over the past few years for a variety of reasons. The latest setbacks include reports of Apple Pay not working at Home Depot stores, Best Buy switching allegiance from MCX to Apple Pay as well as the departure of MCX CEO Dekkers Davidson.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Apple Pay is a Giveaway to Credit Card Companies

The title of this post is not my own, rather it is a copy.  That was taken from an article over on Harvard Business Review.

Wow.

That is a strong statement.

Filed under 'Competitive Strategy' the article does a comparison between Apple's moves with the music industry a decade ago and its moves today with payments.

https://hbr.org/2015/04/apple-pay-is-just-a-big-giveaway-to-credit-card-companies

Here is a snippet from that piece:

It’s easy to assume Apple Pay is one in a long line of disruptive innovations from the master of serial disruption. But this time that’s not the case. Apple isn’t behaving as a disruptor here; it’s acting as a reseller.

This seems like an easy distinction to spot, but that’s not always so. Like disruptors, resellers can enter an industry with a different business model and target customers unattractive to established firms. But they extend an industry’s distribution structure rather than disrupt it. So for instance, independent insurance agents (who, unlike an insurance company’s own agents, can direct customers to a wide variety of insurers in search of the best deal), act as an additional sales channel for the industry, particularly at the price-conscious margins, not as an disruptive alternative. They would be disruptive if they were selling insurance from a company new to the industry using an independent, low-cost distribution channel, such as direct to the customer, either by phone or online.

I wonder how the article's author would look at the likes of CurrentC in the realm of disruptive forces?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant