A Little-Known Apple Pay Rival Is Coming

In a report issued Wednesday morning, J.P.Morgan analyst Rod Hall provides his daily update on the tech world. Amongst a few pieces of news, he highlights the upcoming arrival of CurrentC, a little-known competitor of Apple Inc.'s AAPL Apple Pay. The service will launch in the next few months, but still very few details are known. Analysts expect it to merge payments and loyalty benefits, while offering retailers "additional insight into the spending habits of customers who are members," the report says. Even less is known about the benefits CurrentC will offer clients. Last year, the company began a small-scale trial. CurrentC is currently being tested in several undisclosed markets around the U.S. However, its use is restricted to employees of member retailers including Walmart, 7-Eleven, Dunkin Donuts, Sears, Best Buy, Exxon Mobil and Gap. The analysts at J.P.Morgan anticipate a neutral impact on Apple. Moreover, they see CurrentC as "a non-starter given the need to have a special app to make payments (which has to be opened at the register)."