My colleague Keegan discussed the recent launch of Apple Pay, specifically its barring from certain retailers. He cited Apple’s early mover advantage and convenience as reasons to declare it the winner against yet to be released competitor Current C.

I disagree with his assessment as well as his prediction. His premise that early mover advantage will be a deciding factor is directly contradicted by Google Wallet’s failure–which has been available for over three years without much adoption. His point on convenience’s core relevance is stronger; however, an essential element of that convenience is being universally available at popular retailers. Only at that point can Apple Pay truly realize its value proposition of “leaving your wallet behind”.

Photo from Cult of Mac

I think that Current C’s viability is less dependent on Apple Pay than it is on the ability of its partner retailers to market the product to their enormous customer base. The reasoning being that Apple is pursuing a differentiation strategy with its seamless convenience, while Current C is focused on a specific subset of consumers. Current C is trying to modernize reward redemption for retailer specific loyalty programs. Ultimately, I believe that the differences in customer segments, and value propositions are sufficient to allow the technologies to coexist.