Retailers’ Answer to Apple Pay Is Said to Hit Stores in August

The CurrentC app.

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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After almost three years in development, the retail industry’s answer to Apple PayBloomberg Terminal is finally getting off the ground.

A mobile payment application developed by Merchant Customer Exchange -- a company founded in August 2012 with funding from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. -- has been tested by employees of the retailers and will get a limited trial run next month in stores, according to three people familiar with the situation. That means shoppers will soon be able to use the technology, called CurrentC, to pay for items with their phones.