Recent news reports that Apply Pay and Google Wallet payment options in many US stores are being dropped to support a competing service. Those who are currently CurrentC, the service in question, have recently received emails saying that their emails have been stolen by hackers.
“Thank you for your interest in CurrentC,” the e-mail read. “You are receiving this message because you are either a participant in our pilot program or requested information about CurrentC. Within the last 36 hours, we learned that unauthorized third parties obtained the e-mail addresses of some of you. Based on investigations conducted by MCX security personnel, only these e-mail addresses were involved and no other information.”
There could be a certain amount of schadenfreude felt by Apple after they were dropped by two large pharmacy chains, which greatly hampers the reach of Apple Pay. It is not often that businesses come together to prevent a company like Apple from dragging the world into its vision of the future; although there is usually some amount of resistance (like in the case of iTunes).
CurrentC links users accounts directly to checking accounts and debit cards, and circumvents the fees charged by credit card companies. However, it becomes harder to cancel charges in the case that credentials are stolen and hackers gain access to an account. Which is why the recent theft of emails is such a setback to the e-payment system that wants to be the standard across the United States.
Other news has also surfaced that companies that signed up with CurrentC are contractually bound to exclusively accept the service. Meaning that they face fines should they maintain acceptance of other electronic payment methods.
[Source: Ars Technica; 9to5mac]
