Tag: Evan Schuman

EMV Really Screwing Up Apple Pay

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when EMV data we receive. As more major retail chains fully accept EMV payments, Apple Pay is being dealt some serious experience setbacks, such as being asked twice for price verification and being asked for fingerprint biometric authentication and then, a few screens later, a signature. Neither of those steps were part of the Apple Pay process until merchants switched on EMV.

To be clear, those time-wasting moves are not part of the Apple Pay process at all, but are superimposed after the Apple Pay transaction is complete and customers think they are done. The reason this is now happening is due to very strict interpretations of EMV rules—and the fact that the nature of the payment mechanism (beyond that it’s contactless) is not always communicated to the POS. Hence, it must assume the worst. When two retailers—Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods–last week made the switch through upgraded Verifone POS terminals, customers used to speedy Apple Pay experiences were literally being called back to the checkout lane to complete the additional keystrokes. Before, once Apple Pay’s screen said “done” and displayed an animated checkmark, they were free to leave. Not so in an EMV world.

With A New Mission, Walmart Pay Goes Live In Arkansas, Texas

Now that Walmart no longer has to pretend to be support CurrentC—thanks to its effective demise, courtesy of MCX’s concession to reality—the largest retail chain announced Monday (May 16) that it had rolled out Walmart Pay across 110 Walmart stores in Arkansas and 480 Walmart stores in Texas. Walmart Pay the concept was announced by the merchant back in December. Walmart Pay has been rolled out in a way very different than Walmart wanted to do a mobile payment, but it’s a model that has been obviously shaped by Apple Pay.

Like Apple Pay, it supports “any major credit, debit, pre-paid or Walmart gift card.” But unlike Apple Pay, it works across iOS and Android devices. And unlike Apple Pay and every other NFC payment method, it can work on a far wider range of phones—especially older phones—that do not support NFC. All the phone needs is the ability to download an app and enough of a camera to scan a QR code. But Walmart Pay suffers a major weakness that Apple Pay doesn’t. As long as the shopper is willing to use the default card in Apple Pay, all that the shopper need do is hold the phone right above the card reader. It doesn’t need to be connected to any network, nor does the shopper have to launch an app, key in a password or manipulate the app in any way. Contrast that with Walmart Pay, which requires the shopper to find and then open the Walmart app, select Walmart Pay and then manually activate the camera and then scan a register QR code—which as many shoppers will confirm, isn’t always that easy to do on the first or second attempt.

MCX Concedes The Obvious: CurrentC Is Dead. Indeed, It Was Never Really Alive

When MCX on Monday (May 16) issued a statement that “MCX will postpone a nationwide rollout of its CurrentC application,” it was akin to U.S. presidential candidates who suspend their campaigns. It’s a polite way of saying “it’s over” without having to say those words outloud.

But for many reasons, CurrentC never had much of a chance, having been created in the most merchant-centric (OK, I’ll admit it: Walmart-centric) manner possible. It’s creation was to give retailers a way to sharply cut back interchange fees and it was being pushed by a merchant who was already paying among the very lowest interchange fee percentages of anyone.

Chase Makes The Right Security Move After SWIFT Breaches

A report Tuesday (May 17) that J.P. Morgan Chase “has limited some employees’ access to the Swift global interbank messaging service amid questions about security breaches at a pair of Asian banks that used the funds-transfer platform” raises some concerns, but it appears to be just enforcing a stricter “need to know” and “need to access” approach from Chase.

Although there have been other reports raising the possibility of an earlier Swift attack—with a major Bangladesh bank—being an insider job, it could just as easily be an attack where the bank employees were victimized. Employees might have had their credentials stolen via keystroke-capturing malware or being tricked into visiting a credential-stealing site designed to look like Swift’s access area.

In Australia, Apple Pay Boosts Credit Card, Deposit Account Applications

In Australia, the ANZ Banking Group found something strange happen after it started accepting Apple Pay. It experienced “a surge in applications for credit cards and deposit accounts” to such a degree that it “has forced the other major banks to re-enter negotiations” with Apple, according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald. In other words, Australian shoppers found the idea of the NFC payment method so significant that they wanted to engage in non-Apple Pay-related banking functions.

“ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott said at the bank’s interim results last week that online credit card applications were up 20 per cent since the deal with Apple was announced on April 28,” the story noted, adding that the figures “were the highest on record” and “more than double the average.” Elliott was quoted as saying “that the higher level is continuing.” This is consistent with much of what we’ve said about Apple Pay, that this huge a behavioral change needs to be a psychological shift. This will need to be a right-brain move—focused on emotions, intuition and imagination—rather than a left-brain (logic, analysis, linear) move. Bankers and payment professionals are notoriously left-brain people, while Apple is the quintessential right-brain company.

Chase’s Removal Of ATM Limits Is The Right Idea But For The Wrong Device

Moving more and increasingly complex payments capabilities to ATMs and away from bank branches is a good thing, as we’ve argued before with ATM ApplePay and with MasterCard’s patent application to turn ATMs into full-fledged POS units. But there is a line where it doesn’t make sense and JPMorgan Chase’s current debate about removing per-day cash limits crosses that line.

First of all, unlike mobile devices, ATMs have a very physical limitation: Once the cash that some human loaded into the ATM runs out, the ATM loses much of its most-desired functionality. Sure, it can still accept deposits and reveal balances, but not that much more. To be candid, those particular services are much better handled by a mobile app. (Note: That is true up to the limit of mobile deposits which, I assure you, I’ll get back to shortly.) The ATM’s most powerful function is to dispense cash, as that is something mobile apps can’t do. When the money is gone, the ATM becomes rather pointless.

Visa Adds New Level 4 PCI Requirement, As The PF Attractiveness Gets A Lot Stronger

In a late holiday gift for PFs everywhere, Visa has upped the requirements for PCI Level 4 (small businesses) merchants. Specifically, as the end of January 2017, those small merchants “must use only Payment Card Industry (PCI)-certified Qualified Integrators and Reseller (QIR) professionals for point-of-sale (POS) application and terminal installation and integration.”

Although few would argue that using trained and approved vendors to do any POS work is not a good idea, merchants are already feeling that the burdens of getting and staying PCI compliant are too high. Given a PF’s willingness to take on all of the PCI aggravation, that offer just got more attractive to Level 4s.

Ford’s Mobile Wallet TipToes Into IoT Payments

When Ford rolled out its mobile wallet this month, it took to heart the concept of contextual payments, focusing on paying for parking from within the vehicle as well as leasing alternative vehicles. But it’s view of mobile was using a smartphone, rather than making the payments automobile-embedded. Although iPhones may weigh much less than two tons, few Apple Pay transactions will work at 80 MPH.

“FordPass, part of Ford’s transformation into an auto and mobility company, aims to do for car owners what iTunes did for music fans,” Ford said. “Launching in April, FordPass reimagines the relationship between automaker and consumer. Membership is free—whether you own a Ford vehicle or not—by registering online.” *Sigh* It’s not a good sign for business when Visa talks about integrating payments in cars and Ford thinks it can accomplish anything with a mobile app on someone else’s hardware. It owns the cars and that’s where its customers are. Why not place the payments apparatus right there in the car’s dashboard, in a place where rivals can’t reach?

Sports Event PF Running Between Processors

Payment Facilitator RunSignup.com is all about trying to take the complexities out of managing running events. It’s service and products include means to track times, tracker runners during events, assist with registration and creating customized sites. Making races easy is one thing. Making payments easy is, well, a much more uphill rocky path.

When the company started in 2009, they solely used Braintree to process transactions. As of March 2015, they added Vantiv and it’s that Vantiv relationship that turns them into a traditional PF, said RunSignup.com CFO Kevin Harris. The company finds the terms and capabilities of Vantiv more to its liking—referring to its customers, Harris said “We’d like to funnel them all through Vantiv, candidly”—but there’s a reason it needs to continue to offer both.

Can Starbucks Pull A Payments Pied Piper With Musical Mobile Money?

Starbucks is working with Spotify on a music deal, one where Starbucks customers will be able to easily download songs from the Starbucks playlist. Here’s the hook: It’s a backdoor route to more mobile payments.

Before you dismiss this as too bizarre to have any payments impact, music has had some surprising influences on retail purchases. To be precise, it’s not the music itself as much as allowing the shopper to be in control of the music.