US mobile payments consortium MCX has suffered a blow after US drugstore chain Rite Aid announced activation support for rival products from Google and Apple across its 4,600 outlets across the US, joining Best Buy in dropping support for MCX.
MCX has lost Rite Aid as a participating merchant
The decision to support Google and Apple reverses Rite Aid’s earlier move to switch off support for Apple Pay in 2014. The MCX consortium, led by retailer Wal-Mart, is currently conducting pilot trials of its own mobile payments app, CurrentC.
Rite Aid says it will begin accepting Apple Pay and Google Wallet, as well as contactless credit and debit cards, from August 20 of this year. The company will also accept Google’s forthcoming rival to Apple Pay, Android Pay, at launch.
MCX now faces a challenge to its survival with the looming expiration of several member firm contracts, and is struggling to establish a full commercial launch three years after its inception.
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