Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Best Buy Co Inc (BBY) Join hands To Take Apple Inc. (AAPL) Down

The likes of giant retailers, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY)  are going after Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s mobile payment platform, Apple Pay. Dante D’Orazio, in an article on The Verge revealed the survival race that the tech giant will have to fight before it’s Apple Pay even reached puberty.

D’Orazio mentioned that, a band of brothers formed by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) and a few others in 2012 are building their own mobile payment platform, which goes by the name CurrentC. The real showdown between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and these retailers is expected to take next year, since that is when CurrentC is expected to be launched. However, small skirmishes have already started as retailers, including the pioneers, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) are disabling Near Field Communication (NFC) readers in their store, which is the device that Apple Pay works on.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) want to build a platform that is free of credit card processing fees and their new platform, CurrentC, achieves just that as it is not backed by a single bank, according to D’Orazio. On the other hand Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s payment platform was taking full advantage of the payment networks of the likes of Visa and Mastercard.

In order to provide incentive to their users, CurrentC owners, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) are luring them with exclusive coupons and promotions, which will, of course, be the consumers’ portion from the slashed processing fees.

D’Orazio also mentioned that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Apple Pay did not have a considerable traction to begin with. He mentioned that, according to the tech giant’s website, only 34 retailers are on board with Apple Pay, and 8 of these are, surprisingly enough, just different  versions of Foot Locker, which dents the diversity of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s payment platform even more.

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