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Techcrunch.com are reporting that MCX (Merchant Customer Exchange), the coalition of retailers including Walmart, Best Buy, Gap and others, who are backing a mobile payments solution CurrentC has been hacked. The data breach involves the theft of email addresses.
CurrentC are working hard to bring their own mobile payment solution to the market and recently made a number of retail chains turn off their contactless (NFC) card readers to prevent people paying with the competing Google Wallet and Apple Pay.
Are proprietary solutions becoming the new norm? Previously, all TVs could display all channels being broadcast and either cash or standard, mainstream credit cards were universally accepted but the new direction seems to be a plethora of incompatible technologies for the benefit of the vendor instead of the customer.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by J053 on Thursday October 30 2014, @12:46AM
(Score: 5, Insightful) by frojack on Thursday October 30 2014, @12:50AM
Agreed.
These people have their terminal systems hacked almost weekly and now they want to play banker?
I don't think so.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by dlb on Thursday October 30 2014, @01:30AM
These people have their terminal systems hacked almost weekly and now they want to play banker?
That's the thing...they want to play banker with a direct link into my bank account. And if they or some hacker pretending to be them decide to drain my account, I could very well never see that money again.
The scary part is that a few years from now we might all have currentC. It's not that far fetched that it'll have replaced credit cards, or even cash itself. Laws are written by corporations, after all.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday October 30 2014, @02:02AM
What would make CurrentC fail in the market?
(Score: 1) by J053 on Thursday October 30 2014, @02:15AM
(Score: 1) by Wrong Turn Ahead on Thursday October 30 2014, @03:10AM
You're assuming that the masses are smart enough to care or disciplined enough to commit. Consumers seem to tolerate anything these days...
(Score: 1) by Whoever on Thursday October 30 2014, @03:17AM
Will Apple allow their app in the Apple store?
(Score: 2) by quacking duck on Thursday October 30 2014, @03:28PM
It's already *in* the app store. Has been since Oct 20. Some are demanding its removal, I've been arguing it should stay because to yank it would open Apple to unjustified (in this case) accusations that Apple Pay can't compete with it, and giving it undeserved "underdog" cred.
Ironically, MCX (backed by the Walmart brand) forcing retailers to disable NFC makes Apple and Google the underdogs in this race.
Instead, let it stay. Let the 1-star reviews remain. And let anyone really that curious to try it, see just how bad it, demanding info that's an identity thief's dream when (not if) it gets hacked, is, and what a hassle it is to use.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Thursday October 30 2014, @03:11AM
The scary part is that a few years from now we might all have currentC.
Doubt it. People don't like paying credit card fees but they don't like turning their banking info over to some company that can't even manage their own business. Paying with a phone isn't THAT important to most shoppers.
The credit card clearing companies aren't going to take this without a fight. Both Google and Apple worked WITH the credit card companies, CurrentC is trying to go around them.
You have to wonder to whom we owe our thanks for this hacking.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by Whoever on Thursday October 30 2014, @04:53AM
Don't forget that there are large corporations who also don't want CurrentC to work: all the companies and banks behind MasterCard, Visa and American Express.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday October 30 2014, @06:14PM
What is craziest to me is that these companies are so hated that everyone is defending the Credit Card companies!
One of the thing Obama really got right in my opinion was the Credit CARD Act of 2009. You never hear about it though....
Probably one of the reasons people don't hate their CC company as much these days.