Tag: merchant customer exchange

Chase to launch its own mobile payments services in 2016

| November 2, 2015

JP Morgan Chase sees major promise in the mobile commerce market

JP Morgan Chase is preparing to launch its first mobile payments service, called Chase Pay. The company expects that the service will be launched in the middle of 2016, competing with other companies that have already released their own payment services. JP Morgan Chase sees significant promise in the mobile payments space, as many consumers are beginning to use their smartphones to shop for products both online and in physical stores.

Chase Pay aims to make it easier for consumers to shop for and purchase products that they may be interested in

Chase Pay will allow consumers to pay for goods and services in physical stores as well as within mobile applications. Retailers are expected to support the mobile payments service, allowing customers to pay for products through their mobile websites. The service will be available to approximately 94 million Chase customers. Notably, Chase has partnered with Merchant Customer Exchange, which has also been working on its own mobile payments platform that is designed specifically for large retailers.

Large retailers are looking for ways to engage mobile shoppers

Mobile Payments - JP Morgan ChaseThe Merchant Customer Exchange’s CurrentC platform is meant to provide large retailers with a way to effectively engage mobile consumers. The organization itself is comprised of large retailers, such as Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. These retailers have all agreed to use the CurrentC platform, but the service has yet to see a commercial release. As such, retailers are looking for ways to embrace mobile payments in order to better serve consumers that are interested in shopping with their smartphones and tablets.

Chase Pay may be able to compete with other services if it manages to provide better security

Chase Pay will face significant competition from services that have already established a foothold in the mobile commerce space. Whether or not the service will prove popular among consumers may depend on the security features it offers. Security has been a significant problem for the mobile commerce space for some time, with many consumers citing recent data breaches as the reason they will not use mobile payments services.

Best Buy to support Apple’s mobile payments service

| April 30, 2015

Apple Pay will be accepted at Best Buy stores later this year

Apple’s mobile payments service, Apple Pay, has won another retail ally. Best Buy has announced that it will be accepting payments made through Apple Pay later this year. This may be a major shift for the retailer, as it is part of the Merchant Customer Exchange, a consortium of retailers that have an interested in mobile commerce. The Merchant Customer Exchange has its own mobile payments service, called CurrentC, which its member companies are meant to use exclusively.

Retailer breaks ranks with the Merchant Customer Exchange and CurrentC

CurrentC first attracted attention when retailers disabled some payment terminals so that they would not accept payments being made through Apple Pay. Instead, the Merchant Customer Exchange opted to release its own platform, which retailers had believed to be a more consumer friendly mobile payments solution. The platform is designed for convenience and ease-of-use, leveraging QR codes as a way to complete transactions. CurrentC has had trouble finding a place in the evolving retailer space, however, which is forcing some companies to look for better solutions.

Best Buy will continue to support CurrentC

Mobile Payments - Best Buy Supports Apple PayThough Best Buy is showing support for Apple Pay, it will still support the Merchant Customer Exchange and CurrentC. The company is concerned with providing its customers with options when it comes to mobile payments. In the past, consumers have shown favor for having the ability to choose how they pay for products and how they do their shopping. Lacking options can create a poor retail experience for some consumers, especially if they are becoming more reliant on mobile devices.

Apple continues to seek out retail partners for its mobile payments service

Apple Pay has emerged as a prominent mobile payments service, but it has not yet found mainstream success. Many consumers prefer to use a variety of services, while others simply purchase products from e-commerce sites directly and not through applications. Apple Pay has been working to acquire more retail partners in order to gain traction with consumers, but has only managed to find moderate success.