CurrentC inches closer to death as Apple Pay adds over 30 banks

Payments industry hopeful CurrentC continued its slow death march on Tuesday, announcing plans to officially end beta testing later in June without plans for wider rollout. In related news, Apple Pay this week gained support from more than 30 U.S. banks and credit unions. 

The Merchant Customer Exchange, a consortium of retailers responsible for developing the CurrentC platform, sent out an email notifying beta testers in Columbus, Ohio, that the program's trial period will end on June 28, reports The Consumerist. 

An update to the CurrentC website confirms the upcoming services shutdown. When the late June deadline rolls around participating stores will no longer be able to process CurrentC transactions, and all customer accounts will be disabled. Beta testers who loaded a gift card into the CurrentC app and disposed of the original hard copy are being asked to use the balance by June 28.

MCX offers little insight into CurrentC's future, saying only that plans are in place to analyze data accumulated from the beta period. Last month the consortium postponed a scheduled nationwide rollout for the second time in as many years, reportedly firing 30 employees. The development prompted speculation on the system's impending demise. 

In development since 2012, CurrentC was designed to link directly with customer bank accounts, allowing major retailers like Walmart to skirt credit card network fees. The system got off to a rocky start and was immediately challenged by tech sector players, including in-house offerings from Apple and Google. MCX attempted to thwart competition by restricting member retailers from accepting other NFC payment platforms, but ongoing troubles and industry pressure prompted Rite Aid and Best Buy to break rank late last year. Walmart followed suit in May by launching its own branded solution. 

The news comes as Apple continues to build out its own mobile payments product, Apple Pay, with the addition of 34 banks and credit unions. 

According to the company's Support webpage cards from the following banks can now be provisioned on Apple Pay:

121 Financial Credit Union
Acclaim Federal Credit Union
Boston Firefighters Credit Union
Catholic Vantage Federal Credit Union
Clackamas County Bank
Coastal Community Federal Credit Union
Commonwealth Community Bank
Cumberland Valley National Bank
Discovery Federal Credit Union
Easthampton Savings Bank
First Bank & Trust (IL)
First Bank & Trust (TX)
First Federal Lakewood
First Heritage Federal Credit Union
First National Bank of Carrollton
First National Bank of Fort Smith
First Security Bank & Trust
First State Bank of Wyoming
Home Bank
Members Credit Union
Nebraska State Bank
Origin Bank
Pegasus Bank
Sandia Area Federal Credit Union
Siouxland Federal Credit Union
State Farm Bank
Summit Bank
Synergy Federal Credit Union
Texas First State Bank
The Bank of Monroe
The Honesdale National Bank
University of Toledo Federal Credit Union
Wayne County Bank
Willis Credit Union

Apple is aggressively expanding Apple Pay beyond the domestic market and most recently struck deals with Canada's "big five" bank holdouts. The payments service is available in Australia, Canada, China, Singapore, the U.S. and the UK, with future launches rumored for Brazil, France and Japan.

A report earlier today claimed preparations for a debut in Switzerland could be completed in time for announcement at next week's Worldwide Developers Conference. The rumblings are in line with Apple's immediate focus on expanding Apple Pay into markets within Asia and Europe.

Success of next-generation iPhone could rest with Siri, survey says

A fresh survey published ahead of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference suggests updates to Siri and the unlocking of the digital assistant's software development kit could be a key factor in future iPhone adoption, a topic of keen interest coming off Apple's first ever handset sales contraction. 

About 42 percent of iPhone owners in Fluent's pre-WWDC survey indicated they would be "somewhat more likely" to purchase the next iPhone if the Siri voice recognizing assistant is vastly improved. Apple is expected to announce Siri innovations, highlighted by the first Siri SDK release, at its developer conference next week.

Siri alone is unlikely to drum up iPhone sales above cooling expectations, however. The survey found only about 19 percent of iPhone users are "much more likely" to buy the next iPhone.

"Overall, Apple needs to recapture that wow factor, and could potentially do so with more aggressive moves into the automotive and television markets," Jordan Cohen, CMO for Fluent told AppleInsider.

Even if excitement surrounding Siri's SDK doesn't reach Amazon Echo and Alexa-level buzz, Apple can still count on about 87 percent of iPhone users staying loyal to the brand. That's the percentage of survey respondents that indicated that they plan on buying iPhones for their next upgrade, a figure approximately 13 percent higher than Android's reported retention rates.

In the face of sagging global smartphone sales and meatier options from a fleshed out mid-tier market, consumers are sticking with Apple because they simply want premium products in their pockets and purses. About 65 percent of iPhone users said they feel iPhone is worth the comparatively high cost, according to the survey.

While Fluent discovered high consumer confidence in Apple products, the firm also confirmed that there are low expectations among iPhone users for this year's release.

"Many consumers have been trained not to expect major improvements in Apple's new releases," Cohen said. "Our research indicates low expectations for the new iPhone, iPad and Mac, with nearly half of consumers expecting little to no change in the next generation of products."

Apple is expected to announce major Siri developments alongside a host of iOS, Mac, tvOS and watchOS improvements at next week's WWDC 2016. AppleInsider will be reporting live from the five-day event scheduled to kick off with a keynote on Monday, June 13 at 10 a.m. Pacific.