Category: NFC Technology

CurrentC will soon be more available to consumers and retailers in the US

The Merchant Consumer Exchange, a company created by a consortium of retailers in the United States, has announced that its mobile payments platform, CurrentC, will go public within the next few months. The company has developed this mobile payments platforms in order to accommodate the needs of retailers that want to engage mobile consumers. These consumers are becoming more prominent in the retail space, as they are beginning to rely more heavily on their mobile devices in order to shop for and purchase products online and in physical stores.

CurrentC uses NFC technology and QR codes to support mobile payments

CurrentC is designed to be compatible with NFC-based payment terminals. These terminals use NFC technology to receive financial data, which is used to complete a transaction. NFC technology has become the backbone of mobile payments, but it is not the only tool that can be used for transactions. CurrentC will also be using QR codes to support mobile payments. These codes are meant to be generated by point-of-sale terminals, allowing CurrentC users to scan the codes to complete a mobile payment.

Retail partners have already given some momentum to CurrentC

The Merchant Consumer Exchange holds an opportune position in the retail space. Because the company was established by several large retailers, these organizations have opted to withhold their support of other mobile payments platforms. Retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart have opted to deny transactions made through Apple Pay, opting instead to support transactions made using CurrentC. With the new mobile payments system going public in the near future, retailers are about to see their support for the platform pay off.

Exclusive support for CurrentC is expected to end in the coming months

Those associated with the Merchant Consumer Exchange cannot technical support other mobile payments platforms, but the consortium notes that exclusive support for CurrentC will be done away with in the coming months. This means that retail partners will be able to support other platforms that have already become popular with consumers.

The wristwatch maker and tech company has revealed its plans to compete in the wearable technology category.

The bestselling watchmaker in the world, Swatch Group, has now announced its intentions to introduce new models of smartwatch that will allow consumers to be able to display data from smartphones and to even make contactless payments by way of wearable technology.

The CEO of the company, Nick Hayek, has stated that the first versions of this gadget will be available in May.

At the same time, Hayek made it clear that Swatch doesn’t intend to try to replicate the types of smartwatch that have now been launched by many of the major players in the wearable tech categories, such as Motorola, Pebble, and Apple. Those fully featured devices are not the type of product that this company will be producing, at least not for the first wave. As a company that currently sells 18 percent of all wristwatches in the world, it could be possible that Swatch has a good idea as to what consumers really want to be wearing and what they want from those devices.

Swatch is now adding the smartwatch to its massive lineup that has consistently been growing its market share.

The company makes wristwatches under a range of different brands, including Calvin Klein, Omega, Breguet, Rado, and several others, in addition to its own. It has managed to maintain a consistent growth of its market share over a steady five years and has seen significant sales growth, as well, despite the fact that wristwatches had been somewhat falling out of favor as an accessory.

Now, the company is stepping into a market that already feels flooded, even before these wearable technology devices have started becoming commonplace. Nick Hayek explained that there will be two types of wireless technology incorporated into the first wearables released by the brand. The first will be NFC technology. This will make it possible for the gadgets to trigger contactless payments, unlock hotel room doors and other compatible locks. The second will be Bluetooth, which will allow data to be sent and received through communication between the smartwatches and smartphones.