There’s a tech-flavoured fiasco happening over in the US right now, after a group of retailers were found to be shutting out Apple Pay in place of their own partner payment system, CurrentC.
This side of the Atlantic however, there’s a very similar project called Zapp that’s looking to tap into the mobile payment market, sans declaring corporate warfare on Apple.
While a selection of CurrentC’s partners –Best Buy, CVS, and Rite Aid, to name a few – have been modifying or disabling their NFC readers to stop Apple’s NFC payment system, Zapp has confirmed to TrustedReviews that it’s not looking to block Apple Pay.
“Terms of a Zapp partnership won’t conflict with a partner choosing to use Apple Pay,” an official Zapp spokesperson told us. “The two technologies can easily run together.”
Zapp even went as far as suggesting that Apple Pay might be a boon to its own services, telling us: “If anything, Apple Pay will help promote the benefits of mobile payments to consumers which is a good thing.”
“We think there will be three or four trusted mobile payments providers in the UK. Apple may be one of those, Zapp certainly will be.”
Zapp already has a raft of partners on board, including Sainsbury’s, House of Fraser, and ASDA. The latter supermarket is actually a wholly owned subsidiary of Walmart, one of the US retailers currently embroiled in the on-going blockade of Apple Pay.
We also spoke to Raja Ray, Director of Products and Solutions at Verifone, the UK’s top electronic sale solutions firm and another Zapp partner.
Ray also reckons Apple Pay is good for everyone, even payment competitors, telling TrustedReviews: “Apple Pay has huge potential to drive uptake of NFC payment by consumers and we are pleased to be working with Apple on this project in the US.”
“Similarly with Zapp, we see an exciting opportunity for its approach to drive alternative payment methods,” continued Ray.
“There’s room for everyone as payments options grow and commerce becomes more connected.”
Both Zapp and Apple Pay are set to launch here in the UK sometime next year and, thankfully, horn-locking seems unlikely.
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