Target is taking on Apple Pay with its own mobile wallet service

Target is set to enter the mobile payments game, according to a recent report that hit the Web earlier today. The U.S. retailer is, the article notes, “in the early stages of developing its own mobile wallet,” and the product could launch as early as next year.

Look out Apple Pay, farewell CurrentC

This might look like bad news for Apple Pay, and in a sense, it does; Target has so far resisted adopting the Cupertino-developed mobile payments solution, and while the retailer is in the process of creating its own app-powered offering, it looks like support for Apple Pay will be placed on the back bench. Target has previously noted publicly that Apple Pay support is something the retailer might introduce further down the line, but for now, Reuters explains that the store is targeting the development of its own payments solution (no pun intended, of course).

Reuters added:

Target’s entry would create a powerful new competitor in a small, crowded market, challenging Apple Inc’s Apple Pay, Alphabet Inc’s Android Pay and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s Samsung Pay.

Yet, at least at the minute, “there has not been any testing in Target’s stores so far,” according to the publication’s sources.

At present, Target is one of the retailers behind the development of CurrentC, the joint mobile wallet solution that comes from the Merchant Customer Exchange. Today’s news, as Reuters indeed notes, indicates that troublesome times could be ahead for CurrentC. Moreover, Target isn’t the first retailer to jump ship; Walmart announced a QR code-powered solution, dubbed Walmart Pay, last week.

It’s thought that Target’s offering will use a similar technology, rather than relying on NFC-powered terminals. Though it won’t bypass credit card companies, instead allowing customers to directly link their cards to the payment app, Reuters added.

Of course, we’ll keep you posted with further information as we receive it.