It seems like everyone and their mother wants to get into the mobile payments market nowadays, with Walmart being the latest company to launch its own mobile payments service, but it’s not the only retailer looking to delve into the market. According to a report from Reuters, Target is actually developing its own mobile payments service, one that will be built into Target’s mobile app and will utilize QR codes. There’s not much of a difference between Target’s unnamed service and Walmart Pay, which is part of the reason why I’m sure most people would much rather the two companies just open themselves up to existing services like Android Pay and Apple Pay.
Walmart announced its own mobile payment service earlier this month, now it looks like Target may follow suit with a similar smartphone-based solution, suggesting plans for a shared service called CurrentC may never materialize. Reuters reports that the retail giant is developing a mobile payments option of its own instead, though it’s still in development and may never get an official launch. Apparently the service would come built into Target’s current app and rely on QR codes. It would also connect directly to the customer’s credit card. That sounds pretty similar to Walmart Pay. It’s also not too different from CurrentC, which was originally backed by a group of retailers including Target, Walmart, Best Buy and many more. It’s unclear if CurrentC will ever get an official launch, though at this point it doesn’t seem very likely. In a statement to Reuters, Target said it’s still a member of Merchant Customer Exchange, the group behind CurrentC. However, the company also admitted that it is exploring other “mobile wallet solutions.” Target doesn’t accept any mobile payment apps in its stores at the moment, though you can use Apple Pay when shopping with the Target app on your phone. Hopefully it won’t be too long before you can use your phone at the register as well.
