MCX, the merchant consortium behind the Apple Pay competitor known as CurrentC, has announced today that CEO Dekkers Davidson is being replaced by Brian Mooney. MCX has given Mooney the title of interim CEO, which makes it unclear as to whether the consortium is actively looking for another CEO to replace Dekkers Davidson or if Mooney is the permanent choice.
When Apple Pay launched, CurrentC and MCX received a flood of negative publicity. CurrentC’s exclusivity policy at the time prompted retailers such as CVS and Rite Aid to disable NFC terminals and therefore block Apple Pay. At the time, it was unclear how long that exclusivity deal was for, but it was later revealed that the agreement was for “months, not years.”
Recently, several CurrentC retailers have launched support for Apple Pay, signaling the end of the exclusivity agreement. During Apple’s earnings call yesterday, Tim Cook revealed that Best Buy would gain Apple Pay support in retail stores later this year and in-app immediately. Acme and Home Depot have also both revealed Apple Pay support after being initial CurrentC partners. It was also recently announced that Discover cardholders will have Apple Pay support soon as well.
Apple has touted that Apple Pay is supported at contactless payment terminals in over 700,000 locations. MCX’s mobile wallet app is still in a private beta test at this point. Exact reasoning for CEO Dekkers Davidson’s departure is unclear right now, although it most likely has something to do with the bad press and lack of adoption from more retailers.
