Popular retailers are not supporting Apple Pay, working on a new mobile payments app

One of the biggest announcements from Apple at its iPhone 6 event has been the new mobile payments service – Apple Pay. Looks like, some retailers already consider it as a threat and have started pulling out support for the service.

According to TheVerge, giants like Walmart, Kmart, 7-Eleven, and Best Buy have no intention to support Apple Pay, and have teamed up to build their own mobile payments app – CurrentC.

In another report, Eric Slivka of Daring Fireball points out that pharmacy chain Rite Aid is also facing public ire for  stopping support for the Apple Pay and Google Wallet mobile payments systems. The reports states, “Rite Aid was not an official Apple Pay partner, but the payments system generally works with existing near field communications (NFC) payment terminals anyway, and many users had had success using Apple Pay at Rite Aid stores early in the week.”

“It now appears that fellow major pharmacy chain CVS is following suit and as of today is shutting down the NFC functionality of its payment terminals entirely, a move presumably intended to thwart Apple Pay,” further adds the report.  Needless to say, this has also affected Google Wallet services.

These retailers working on the new CurrentC are a part of the a group called Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) that was founded in 2012. It includes about 59 participating retailers and several Tier 1 merchants who want more control of payments and want to keep  more of the consumer data, instead of relying on tech companies.

The CurrentC app is likely to hit markets next year, but currently it is not backed by a single bank. TheVerge reveals, “The system is designed to cut out the middleman — and credit card processing fees. The app, when it launches next year, won’t replace your plastic credit card. Instead, it will withdraw directly from your checking account when you pay at the cash register with a QR code displayed on your Android or iOS device.”

On the other hand, Apple has teamed up with various banks to launch the Apple Pay. It is betting big on the popularity of its iPhones and the convenience and security of its payment system to prompt customers and retailers to make the shift. The technology will allow iPhone users to pay for anything from office supplies to burgers at the tap of a button, using their American Express , Visa or Mastercard cards. However, Apple first need to swiftly add more retailers, which now seems to be the biggest challenge.