CurrentC Retailers Shun Apple Pay

DALLAS — 7-Eleven Inc. is among several retailers reportedly refusing to accept Apple Inc.'s Apple Pay mobile payment platform. 

The Dallas-based convenience store chain, along with other retailers including CVS Health Corp. and Rite Aid Corp., are instead developing their own mobile payment system called CurrentC via the Merchant Customer Exchange consortium.

According to multiple reports, CurrentC is the preferred mobile payment method for a host of retailers because they can boost their profits by reducing credit card transaction fees required under the Apple Pay payment system. These fees often range between 2 percent and 3 percent per transaction.

"The economics and benefits of having your own payment system is definitely one of the main reasons [these retailers won't accept Apple Pay]," Hitesh Sheth, CEO at cybersecurity firm Vectra Networks, told Reuters.

Retailers refusing to accept Apple Pay have also shunned other competing mobile wallet platforms, such Google Wallet and Softcard (formerly known as Isis), reported the news outlet.

Launched Oct. 20, Apple Pay allows consumers to use their iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus smartphones to make purchases at the point-of-sale using near-field communication technology. As CSNews Online recently reported, Chevron USA Inc. is among the retailers currently accepting Apple Pay.

Apple CEO Tim Cook equated retailers not accepting Apple Pay to a "skirmish." He said during the WSJD Live Global Technology Conference on Monday that he is pleased with Apple Pay, which saw more than 1 million credit cards activated to the new mobile payment system within 72 hours of launch.