CurrentC by MCX - The MCX Viewpoint

As everyone knows the internet is not the best place to go to find real-time fact checking.  Anything but.  Some examples of this are coming out now as the news surrounding CurrentC has been given some press.  I've posted extensively on Apple and their recent announcements.  Time for a bit more from some other quite interesting offerings.

Some of the blogger entries from websites I enjoy and find valuable have been wildly eccentric in their opinions.

Time for a bit more facts than opinion.

What is MCX?  Here is the company website:

http://mcx.com/

What is CurrentC?

http://currentc.com/

Want some facts from MCX regarding the recent speculations making the news (you'll find plenty of opinion online, how about some facts)?  Here are the blog entries by the CEO, Dekkers Davidson and others:

http://www.mcx.com/blog/

Interesting times we live in if you love technology, mobile, and retail.

Happy Halloween!

J.W. Gant

CurrentC by MCX in the News

Want to see a slew of stories on the primary Apple Pay competitor, CurrentC?

Just Google it.

Here is the best one, with the best facts (and only the facts):

http://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/what-currentc-didnt-say/#.VFKYeyLF_9Y

Here is the summary from that story:

According to it’s CEO, [Dekkers Davidson], CurrentC is a healthy and robust platform that will launch at some point in early 2015 and have “many fabulous features,” that may or may not include loyalty programs and may or may not allow users to use credit cards in the future.

CurrentC will be offered at retailers through out the country who may or may not also be offering Apple Pay, because they may or may not be allowed to do so under the terms of their agreement with MCX. However, if any of those merchants offer Apple Pay, they won’t be subject to penalties.

MCX houses its data in a totally secure cloud based platform that has been under siege from cyberthieves for the last seven days. That system may or may not be similar to Apple’s in some way, and it is being tested by an unknown number of consumers and retailers at various undisclosed locations nationwide, where it may or may not be going well.

For more specifics, stay tuned to sometime in early 2015, when CurrentC goes live. Or not.

Interesting times we are living in.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Ron Johnson Launches New Retail Company

When the previous head of Apple's retail stores makes a move it is worth taking a look at.

While the Apple formula doesn't appear to have worked at JC Penney, what could be done from a completely blank slate?  We'll get to find out in 2015.

http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/ron-johnson-launching-start-helps-online-shoppers-choose-products

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The cat is finally out of the bag. Former J.C. Penney CEO and Apple retail head Ron Johnson confirmed that he is launching a new company—but it’s not a tech-gadget delivery service as was widely rumored. Instead, the new initiative, set to launch in 2015, is designed to help online hoppers make the right product choices.

Johnson told the Wall Street Journal his new start-up, called Enjoy, is a service that will change the way consumers buy "things that matter," and enable shoppers who start their shopping on the Web to connect with a product before making a decision.

I'll be following Enjoy Technology to see what comes.  Would be fun to peak in to the making of this new endeavor.

To visit the company's website click here:

http://www.enjoytech.com/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Retailers Turning Off Apple Pay

The biggest news in payments over the past week hasn't been Apple Pay, but rather the retailers that first accepted but no longer accept Apple Pay.

CVS and Rite Aid are in the news for this:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/10/26/cvs-follows-rite-aid-shuts-off-apple-pay/17959213/

The various takes on the story are a story unto itself.  Balanced news can be found here:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-27/why-rite-aid-and-cvs-stopped-taking-apple-pay

Here is a snippet from that piece:

That’s not the whole story. Objections to Apple Pay aren’t actually about convenience, reliability, or security—they are about a burgeoning war between a consortium of merchants, led by Walmart (WMT), and the credit card companies. Rite Aid, CVS, Walmart, Best Buy (BBY), and about 50 other retailers have been working on their own mobile payments system, called CurrentC. Unlike Apple Pay, which works in conjunction with Visa (V), MasterCard (MA), and American Express(AXP), CurrentC cuts out the credit card networks altogether. The benefit to the merchants is clear: They would save the swipe fees they now pay to the credit card companies, which average about 2 percent of the cost of transactions.

Unbalanced news can be found here on Gizmodo:

http://gizmodo.com/how-corporate-greed-is-trying-to-kill-apple-pay-1651233601

Here is a snippet from that piece:

When Apple Pay launched last week, it was a huge step towards the pay-with-your-phone future that's been in the works for years. But a few big retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and CVS want to blow the whole thing up and replace it with something shittier, because they don't care about you at all.

Here is Karen Webster's take:

http://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/the-real-reason-rite-aid-dumped-apple-pay/#.VE6XyCLF_9Y

Here is a snippet from her piece:

Last week, it was announced that Rite Aid abruptly deactivated its terminals and would no longer be able to accept Apple Pay. There was speculation swirling that it was because of concerns over security or data privacy, both totally ludicrous claims/spin given Apple’s highly secure payments scheme and total inability to see transaction or cardholder data. Say what you will about Apple Pay and its chances of success, but it is a highly innovative and secure method of payment using the mobile device.

...

But I also offer that horror movie playing between Treasury/Marketing folks at every CurrentC/MCX merchant could get pretty gruesome. And, I think that this could even foreshadow the second big post Apple Pay shift in payments – the unraveling of CurrentC.

For my part I was at Walgreen's over the weekend to pick up a prescription for my daughter.  The payment terminal was advertising Apple Pay.  Right above that was a placard on the wall that read "Please Turn Off Cell Phone".  Well, we have a ways to go yet.

Quite a lot of news this past week huh?

TechCrunch has some inside views of the CurrentC app.  Wow.  How did they get their hands on this stuff?

http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/25/currentc/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Apple Pay Has Launched

October 20 was the word on the street.

Apple Pay will launch October 20.

Okay.

October 20 rolled around and I started fiddling with my very new iPhone 6 to see if I could figure this out.  Passbook?  Nope.  Update?  None available.  I was on 8.0.2 and Apple told me there were no updates available.  Okay what?  October 20 right?

Time to Google.

Eventually I found news that Apple Pay would come with the 8.1 iOS update due to hit October 20.  As I was travelling I had to wait a bit before I could perform the update.  Here is what other people were saying in the meantime:

Apple Pay Works, But It Can’t Speed up Lines of Non-Users
http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/Apple-Pay-Works_-But-It-Can_t-Speed-up-Lines-of-Non-Users

WHY BANKS LOVE APPLE PAY

http://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/why-banks-love-apple-pay/#.VEe9RyLF_9Y

That headline shouldn't be encouraging to merchants.  

Moving on, here is the New York Times and others:

Apple Pay: Seamless in Stores, but Quirky Online

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/22/technology/personaltech/shopping-with-apple-pay-seamless-in-stores-but-quirky-online.html?_r=0

Some Banks See Apple Pay as a Threat

http://www.paymentssource.com/news/emerging-payments/some-banks-see-apple-pay-as-a-threat-3019482-1.html

So, wait, what?  Banks love Apple Pay.  Banks Hate Apple Pay.  Huh?

Google may have to make a move:

Google plans to ride Apple Pay popularity to cash in with Google Wallet

http://www.mobilepaymentsinsider.com/2014/10/22/google-plans-to-ride-apple-pay-popularity-to-cash-in-with-google-wallet/

So how did it go with me?

Tuesday night I went through my usual careful backup routine with my iPhone before updating to iOS 8.1.  There within Passbook was a '+' sign and simple instructions to add a card to Apple Pay.  My Capital One card is now available for use with Apple Pay and ... I have nowhere I shop to use it.  Walgreens?  Nope.  Whole Foods?  Sometimes maybe.  Panera?  I eat at my desk every day.  I may shop at Macy's over the holidays.  

What about my bank debit card?  Tried to add my Santander card and Apple Pay told me this issuer does not currently support Apple Pay.  500 banks on-board with Apple Pay and I can't add my debit card.  

Maybe some day I'll try Apple Pay.  Meanwhile on my trip I stopped at Starbucks two or three times and paid with my Starbucks app earning a gold star each time.  I'll swing in to Dunkin Donuts shortly to try out those Pumpkin Donuts again this year. Probably buy some for the office.  Yeap, I'll pay with my Dunkin App so I get the DD Perks.

How about you?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE**  Two quick updates.  First is this excellent piece from Re/Code:
http://recode.net/2014/10/24/apple-pay-review-the-recode-bi-coastal-team-test/

Next is news of Rite Aid first allowing, then turning off Apple Pay:
http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/Would-Be-Apple-Pay-Users-Disappointed-When-Rite-Aid-Apparently-Turns-Off-NFC

**UPDATE #2**  I missed this excellent article on Time and feel it is worth checking out:
http://time.com/3532199/apple-pay-winners-losers/

Extraordinary Experiences Isolate You Socially

I find this bit of research to be extraordinarily interesting.

Here is a bit from the write-up on Big Think:

Having a much more interesting time with life than your peers is a recipe for social isolation, according to their report published in Psychological Science. In an experiment which supported the group's conclusion, individuals given a very interesting video to watch later felt excluded when the majority of the group had watched a far more boring video. Contrary to what the people who watched the interesting video expected, conversation seems to thrive on the mundane.

Here is the full piece:

http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/extraordinary-experiences-are-socially-isolating-so-next-time-take-a-friend

I want to focus on that one quote just one more time:

...conversation seems to thrive on the mundane.

Very interesting.

Do you see this in your every day life?  Maybe you are having an interesting life and most of the people around you are merely more interested in last night's 'American Idol'.  How dare you take The Road Not Taken.  Though, don't look in to the real meaning of that poem or you'll find even more interesting thoughts to ponder.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0163 7-Eleven and Beacons

This isn't a move I can claim to understand.

7-Eleven, the company famous for the Big Gulp, wants runners to be pulled in to their stores by the use of beacon interaction with their mobile devices.

Huh?

Here is the story:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/7-eleven-uses-beacons-in-singapore-to-chase-runners-into-stores

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Convenience store retailer 7-Eleven is working with Japanese soft drink manufacturer Pocari Sweat on a beacon campaign in Singapore that tracks runners’ progress and offers rewards when they pass one of the chain’s locations.

The retailer’s efforts are due to a desire to promote healthy lifestyles and maintain a presence in the mobile fitness space, given the prevalence of consumers using their mobile phones to track their running. The technology works through a free mobile application available on iOS and Android devices.

Now, I have a 7-Eleven just a few blocks from my home and adjacent to one of my favorite local pizza places (Pizza Express in Wakefield, MA) so I go in there frequently (a long way from Singapore).  I've seen the increase in healthier options right next to the huge burritos and the slurpy machine.  So, maybe this isn't a crazy move all together.  However, I can't help but feel this company is reaching for customers it has no business laying a claim to.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant