One of the major players hoping to compete with Apple Pay looks to have thrown in the towel, according to a report. MCX’s rival mobile payments platform CurrentC looks to be as good as cancelled.
CurrentC paired an app-based digital wallet with a QR-based payment system. It wasn’t exactly well received, as MCX forced partners including Best Buy and Walmart to exclusively support CurrentC or face fines. It also came in for controversy after customer’s private data was accessed.
Speaking with TechCrunch, MCX revealed that it has laid off 30 members of staff and indefinitely “postponed” the planned rollout of CurrentC in order to focus on other aspects of its business. MCX CEO Brian Mooney says that “unique feedback from the marketplace” following a pilot scheme in Columbus has led the company to pump the brakes on competing with Apple Pay. He did note that the “mobile payments game is just beginning to take shape,” implying the company may try to step back into the ring at a later date.
So, short of another U-turn, it looks like one less competitor for Apple in the mobile payments department. A department that Apple Pay currently leads with 12 million monthly users.