Target Sets Sights on mPayments

Target is preparing its own mobile payment option for its customers, reports Recode.

The news came by way of the company’s CIO at the recent NRF Big Show expo in New York City, but few details were offered other than that the mPayment platform will likely be available first to customers who have Target’s REDcard debit and credit cards. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that Target currently has its own mobile app and a coupon app called Cartwheel, either of which could provide a suitable home for a new mPayment feature.

As Recode points out, Target, together with Walmart and Kohl’s, was one of the major backers of the CurrentC payment platform, which was meant to be a rival to Apple Pay but never officially launched, and now appears to be on a permanent hiatus. Target has persisted in resisting Apple Pay, however, refusing to support the platform in its stores.

Walmart has done the same, and gone a step further with the launch of Walmart Pay, its own mPayment platform. But last year a Walmart subsidiary in the UK started trialling Apple Pay in select stores, suggesting that the company’s will may be weakening in its war against the major mPayment platforms. Target, meanwhile, is evidently still setting its sights on Apple Pay.

Source: Recode